WESTMINSTER — Dave Sagel stood in the middle of a small yard and measured lumber as his volunteer force hammered, sawed and collaborated to fix up the home of a couple who routinely take in foster children.
Tammy Ybarra and her partner, Amy Wheeler, who live in the house on Eliot Street in Westminster, were getting a new water heater, shed, garage door and a host of other upgrades and repairs courtesy of volunteers from Westminster Fire and Rescue and the local Home Depot.
“We choose to give back to them because they are giving of their hearts to foster kids,” said Sagel, 41, a fire captain.
Ybarra, 41, and Wheeler, 42, who have one child of their own, have taken in 16 foster children over the past three years, and once had four brothers and sisters at one time. “It was crazy, but it was OK,” said Ybarra. “It is hard for us to say no when they call and say, “If you can’t take them all, we are going to have to separate a family.’ ”
Theirs’ is the seventh foster home since 2003 that the Fire Department and home improvement store have worked together to spruce up.
Other local merchants donated, too, and about 25 volunteers will contribute their time in the improvement blitz, which should be completed by this evening.
