Repairmen team up to make uninsured homes livable after Arkansas tornadoes

North Little Rock, Arkansas – When repairmen in North Little Rock made his home habitable again without charging him, a man discovered firsthand that some gifts simply cannot be reciprocated.

Prior to the March 31 tornado outbreak, Richard Williams’ home insurance expired. Williams believed he was helpless when an EF-3 tornado tore a tree through his roof on Idaho Drive.

“When was it going to be liveable? Am I going to have to be in a shelter? I have all these things running in my mind,” Williams said.

Fortunately, two companies decided to help others because they are seeing a lot of business as a result of the disaster.

South Peak Roofing has provided service to around four dozen properties with storm damage since a tornado swept through the majority of central Arkansas. The team endured another 16-hour day on Tuesday, according to the team’s owner Nick Rynders, but something felt different about this task.

“Definitely there’s more emotion attached to this roof,” Rynders said.

Williams has no home insurance, so his workers placed shingles out of the goodness of their hearts rather than accepting a paying job through an insurance payment. Williams wasn’t expecting that, so the only thing he could offer Rynders when they first met was a hug.

“I don’t have the words,” Williams said in the embrace.

“Aw, you don’t need them,” Rynders replied.

“You give back to someone. They’ll give back to someone else, and that’s what’s going to make the world a better place,” Rynders stated.

Chris Cooper, the proprietor of Coop’s Plumbing Service, told South Peak Roofing about Williams while he was working on another house in the area.

“Richard works at Bobby’s Cafe in Morgan, where (my) family eat all the time. He is a great cook at Bobby’s and I know if he could, he would help do the same thing for people,” Cooper said.

Coop’s Plumbing Service boarded windows, purchased facial boards to begin replacing those that were lost in the tornado and is working on the interior of the house. Cooper has a replacement in mind to fix the sheetrock.

“Immediately I just decided I’m jumping in. I want every bit of it, help out as much as I can,” Rynders stated.

Williams’ home needed renovations in order to be inhabitable, so South Peak Roofing joined together to pay for them, but if the neighborhood gets involved, they both intend to do more.

“Those two guys I think are angels on Earth,” Williams said. “I plan on paying this forward for the rest of my life.”

Williams intends to give one method to pay it forward. The money you send to $SouthPeakRoofing via CashApp or give to others through a GoFundMe can help them, making an otherwise bleak situation possibly the most hopeful on the block.

“I hope this isn’t the first and last because there’s plenty of people who need it, and I just one to keep giving, and my people are all for it,” Rynders said.

Williams had to give Rynders one last embrace before he left the house to assure him that he would never forget him and the generosity shown to him.

“The world is full of great people, and I think we are experiencing some right here,” Williams said.