CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Tuesday night, a story about an elderly woman, living alone, without any running water in her home since January.
And how we worked with a plumber, and the city, to get it restored.
It started with an email, dated June 30, that read in part:
"(...) she has been at her house without water since the Winter Freeze. She tried going to the city for help and got nowhere."
It was sent to us by a friend of Linda Walters.
Linda Walters has lived in this house for years, but she's been living here, alone, for months, in the scorching temperatures, without running water.
Lupe Gonzalez works with V&M Plumbing.
To finally find somebody with a big heart like Lupe Gonzalez, to help Linda Walters, we began by contacting Development Services, then the city Water department; where Erin Hawkins, who was a great help, guided us to the Nueces Center for Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities.
They then guided us to V&M Plumbing, who showed up Thursday, July 22.
"Has the water been on? I mean, you have water inside the house or no?" Gonzalez asked Walters.
"No water at all," she replied. "It just comes out thru here that you know of?" he asked.
Walters admits her water was turned off after the big February Freeze of 2021 for non-payment, then again seven months ago for the same reason.
So every few days, when she needs water, she walks down to the windmill to fill up a few big bottles and carries them back here, so she can wash up.
"Uh uh. I don't see any water leaking underneath the house. Not a major leak, know what I mean? Which is good," Gonzalez told us as he crawled out from under the house.
But once inside the house, where there's an exposed electrical box, and lots of mold, Gonzalez finds the problem.
"The problem is gonna be right here in the main water. Back in that area. So she's gotta move all this stuff out of the way," he said.
Gonzalez adds that there's also the problem with the hose bibb on the side of the house, that has a steady drip, that Gonzalez's crew fixes.
Crawling through a very small space to get underneath the house.
"What do you think about that?" we asked Walters. "I think that he's a very good man. Honest," she said.
Gonzalez tells us "I try to help out the community as much as we can. That's what we're here for."
Miss Walters is thankful to V&M Plumbing and the city.
The Water Department confirms they have put her on a payment plan and her water will stay on, as long as she makes a monthly payment.
