Cindy Hawkins has lived in her home since she was 11 years old, but she hadn’t been able to enjoy much of it lately.

The roof had fallen into disrepair, with leaks and structural issues that restricted the Forsyth County resident to the living room.

“It’s been about 20 years since I’ve had a new roof put on my home,” Hawkins said.

In about a day, Hopewell Roofing & Restoration fixed that.

The local company selected Hawkins for its annual “Roof of Hope” project that provides a new roof for a local person or family in need.

Hopewell had just completed last year’s project when it received a call from Glenn Bowman, program coordinator at The Place of Forsyth County. He knew Hawkins and that her roof was in bad shape. Could Hopewell help?

Hopewell’s schedule was hectic, owner Andy Morrison said, “but I told him if she could just hang on for a little bit, I’d get to her as soon as I could.”

Morrison sent one of Hopewell’s project managers out to Hawkins’s home a few months later and realized that the situation was dire. The roof was coming in; two large blue tarps kept the home from being completely exposed to the elements. Hawkins was confined to her living room where she had moved all her belongings to prevent them from being damaged. Even there, the ceiling showed signs of caving.

“She probably had about maybe 40 square feet of floor space,” Morrison said. “… It was sad to think that it had gotten to that point.”

Hopewell’s crew got to work. They replaced the entire roof structure, rafters and all, rebuilding essentially the top half of the house.

Hawkins’s father built the modest two-bedroom, one-bath house off Heardsville Road in 1965, according to Forsyth County property records, and she thinks he’d be pleased with Hopewell’s work.

“I think my dad would love it,” Hawkins said. “I think that while he’s in heaven, I’d like to think that maybe he was talking to God and asking God to bring somebody along for me to put on a new roof.”

Morrison was happy Hopewell could be the one to help.