Neighbors help cleanup veteran’s home in Lehigh Acres

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. Neighbors have gathered to help cleanup a veteran’s home severely damaged by Hurricane Irma.

One neighbor placed a tarp over Steve Romanowski’s roof to stop water from seeping through the ceiling, until it can be completely repaired.

“It’s not an easy thing, it’s not an easy thing to have your home ripped away,” Romanowski said.

Stephanie Johnson-Berg met Romanowski less than one week ago and plans to continue to do whatever it takes to help get the veteran get back on his feet, even if it means just lending an ear.

“He reminds me of my dad, so I was even more like ‘OK there’s a reason,'” Johnson-Berg said.

Johnson-Berg believes through Irma’s destruction a lifelong bond was created.

“We sit here and talk for many hours and he says he’s not a talker,” she said. “He asked me ‘when all this is said and done, you gonna stick around?'”

Romanowski will eventually need a new roof and there is plenty of debris to be picked up from his yard, but he is waiting to hear back from FEMA.