The make over of a dilapidated Pembroke home has left its residents singing the praises of the group Habitat for Humanity Bermuda — and determined to pass on the favour.

“I couldn’t believe what they accomplished in that short period of time — I have been proud of my house and ready to show it off,” Orchard Grove resident Devene Smith told The Royal Gazette.

“They haven’t asked me for a dime. I would never have been able to afford it myself. I had a gathering so people could see what Habitat had done, and people couldn’t believe it was this same house.”

The residence overlooking North Shore has lodged countless boarders and people in need of shelter over its more than 100 years standing and, until recently, the wear showed.

“It’s had a lot of tenants and everybody had their issues,” Mrs Smith said, mentioning termite-riddled woodwork, ruined paint, and stained and damaged walls and fixtures.

“The Health Department people told me to knock it down,” she said, recalling the hopeless infestation of vermin and cockroaches. “Rats would see you coming and not even run.”

The house she shared for 14 years with husband Kevin Sinclair Smith was in such poor shape that when an appraiser from the bank said it should be condemned, Mrs Smith said: “I was so depressed I cried.”

She suffers from lupus, she added, which makes it difficult for her eyes to produce tears.

Mrs Smith’s poor health and reliance on Financial Assistance left her with time to volunteer, and in her dealings with the Coalition for the Protection of Children, she learned of the local wing of Habitat for Humanity.

The Bermuda branch is administered by the Coalition’s Sheelagh Cooper — and in their subsequent discussions, a deal emerged, whereby if the Smiths agreed to provide shelter for needy tenants and people on Financial Assistance, Habitat for Humanity Bermuda would make their home liveable again.

Starting last year, the housing charity linked up with anti-gang initiatives to provide young men hoping to better themselves with a chance to work and obtain new skills.

Under the watchful eye of workforce superintendent Hewvani Brown, a team of six men arrived to start cleaning up the Smiths’ house and yard.

“They were here at exactly 7.30am — that’s what blew me away,” said Mrs Smith, who found many familiar faces among the team.

“I knew a lot of them. It was all guys that had been locked up and couldn’t get a job. Some of them were people who had been on drugs and were recovering. I knew most of them from the streets and I felt safe around them.

“I had no problem with none of them; they knew me and were respectful — they just did what they had to do and left the house. They were just pleasant to be around. My neighbours said the same thing.”

Using materials provided by Habitat for Humanity, and with Mr Smith helping out, the team finished working on the house in a little over two weeks.

Mrs Smith said she kept meticulous records of the work that was done, and when. The team cleaned and painted, put up new doors and tiles, and fixed up all the house’s fixtures.

After that, Mrs Smith said, the place was ready to take in new tenants downstairs.

“Sheelagh said, ‘If I do this to you, I want you to help someone else, so I’m just returning something that was given to me — I get to extend a hand back.”

She said her current tenant is a woman who, like Mrs Smith, struggles with health difficulties and relies on Financial Assistance.

In spite of her own health struggles, which include painful conditions like pulmonary fibrosis or scarring of the lungs, Mrs Smith said she’s grateful for each day.

“My house is an open house for everybody, as long as they come in and leave it like they found it,” she said. “You’ve got to pass it on.”