After a year of pandemic restrictions and distance learning, not to mention the stressors of wildfire evacuations and storm-induced blackouts, it’s not surprising that you may have times where you feel the roof is coming down on you.
Fortunately, for one Canby family, this quite literal fate has been avoided thanks to the local contracting firm Boss Exteriors, which fully replaced the roof of their home — for free — this past week.
Gabe Callaway, owner of the Canby-based Boss Exteriors, said his company ran a campaign late last year asking for submissions of deserving local families in need of a new roof.
The team voted at the company’s Christmas party to award the remarkable gift to Marianne and Brent Taylor, who live with their two children off of Ponderosa Street in northeast Canby.
“It’s always an honor to give — especially in a meaningful way, like a roof,” Callaway told The Canby Current.
Not only is it an honor, but it’s central to his philosophy of both business and community, Callaway explained.
“If we aren’t giving back, then it’s all about consuming,” he said. “I don’t want to build a business around consuming. Giving is at the core of our values. This is a family-owned business, and there is no better way to display that than to help another family.”
The Taylors were nominated for the project by their neighbors, Kate and Tyler Steele.
“We absolutely feel that our next-door neighbors are the biggest heroes of the story,” Marianne Taylor told the Current this week. “Just that they would think that highly of us to nominate us for something that is such a huge blessing.”
A substitute teacher at Carus Elementary, Marianne lost her position when the state’s entire public school system was forced into remote learning last March.
The pandemic was and is a scary time for non-financial reasons as well, as Marianna has faced continued health challenges over the years related to a bout with breast cancer she survived in 2015 — shortly after the family moved to Canby.
Though Brent, a probation and parole supervisor for Clackamas County Community Corrections, continued to work throughout Covid-19, the loss of Marianne’s income was significant when it came to big expenditures — like replacing the roof.
“We actually got an estimate,” Marianne explained. “We were just hoping schools would open up again soon and we could start saving up for that.”
In fact, Marianne was hired by Carus last month to teach full-time through the end of the academic year. But, thanks to the generosity of Boss Exteriors, the family will be able to put those earnings toward other essentials.
“When we found out, honestly, we just didn’t know what to think,” she admitted. “It didn’t even feel real because it was such a big blessing. We feel very fortunate and so very grateful for our neighbors and Boss Exteriors.”
As for Boss, Callaway said that, though this was the first time his company has given a local family a free roof, “we plan to do many more.”
