Sense of Community Rekindled for Veterans of Foreign Wars With Roof Repair

By Cass Jacoby, RCS Reporter.  

A fellow veteran and owner of a roofing company provides a free roof to Post 9960, giving the community the hope they needed to persevere through the pandemic. 

VFW is usually the organization serving the community, but this time, the organization was taken care of by Maven, a veteran-owned company, when they replaced Post 9960's roof.  

Post commander of VFW 9960 in Cedar Point, North Carolina, Sean Reagan Wright, told ABC News 12, "We've been in the darkness for so long...This year has offered challenges I don't think any of us ever expected."  

On top of the challenges of the pandemic, VFW Post 9960 needed a new roof. "We had basically lost quality control. We were a few windstorms away from catastrophic failures," said Sean. "COVID took a tremendous hit on us financially."   

According to Sean, one of the biggest challenges of the pandemic was losing touch with the community. "To lose that camaraderie and that sense of family and have it taken away from you it, was catastrophic during the months that we were closed," says Sean.  

Luckily, the financial pressure of a $40,000 roof repair VFW Post 9960 has been removed by Maven. So, VFW can get back to focusing on the community. 

As president of Maven and himself a veteran, J.T. Ulyatt realizes giving a roof to Post 9960 is a way to stand in solidarity with local veterans and restore that sense of community. "We know this building provides that...This building is important because it needs to stay erected. They don't need to worry about what the next storm is going to do," says J.T. Ulyatt. "They're able to realize that hey, the community is here to support them, just like they support each other, and that's evident by whatever is being done to the outside..."  

"To be able to have a company like Maven come to [replace] this roof for virtually nothing out of mine or my members' pockets is tremendous," says Sean. "Military veterans know they've all been through difficult situations, but when you see the least bit of hope, it encourages you, you keep fighting for more and more."   

Post 9960 now has that final push of hope to continue fighting against the pandemic with a new roof, knowing the support and comradery of the organization will endure.  

Photo credit: WCTI12 

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