Barb Gotto wasn’t sure how she and her husband Pierre would be able to renovate their bathroom to accommodate him following several medical emergencies.

Thanks to Bradley Plumbing, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Monroe County House of Neighborly Service, as well as a number of generous donations from local businesses, that’s no longer a worry for her.

“This was really nice that they could come in and all pitch in and help with this,” Gotto said.

Gotto said Pierre had a stroke some time ago that left the couple looking to renovate their bathroom – specifically the shower area Pierre had started to have difficulty getting into and out of.

After two 911 calls, the Gottos found out Pierre had several blood clots in his legs from his stomach down, making the shower renovations far more urgent.

“At that point is when I started thinking ‘Oh my gosh, we have to get this bathroom changed over now because, you know, it’s really gonna be hard for him to lift his legs over the bathtub,’” Gotto said.

It was, however, less than an ideal time for big changes to the room. Gotto said she’d just had to drop a substantial amount of money on both the house’s air conditioning and her car.

Looking for help, she reached out to her parish, Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church. From there, she was pointed to the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, who gave her the number for Monroe County’s House of Neighborly Service.

It was there she met Kelly Lerch, who immediately reached out to Tom Bradley of Bradley Plumbing to check out the job.

Gotto said Bradley came in right away. 

After looking at the room and hearing about what changes needed to be made, he got in touch with some of the businesses and associates he works with regularly.

He quickly found they’d be able to offset the cost thanks to donations from his associates including Butler Supply, Belleville Supply Co., Waterloo Lumber Co., McCarty’s Contemporary Marble and Neff Floor Covering, as well as Bradley himself.

“I called Kelly back and told her ‘I think I can do the job at no cost to these people,’” Bradley said.

What started as a shower renovation quickly turned into a bigger project. Not only was the tub replaced with a walk-in shower – including a seat – work was also done on the walls and floor tiles, the toilet was replaced with a slightly taller toilet and they were also able to cover the necessary plumbing and minor electrical work.

Bradley and his sons took care of the labor, even taking the liberty of replacing the Gottos’ water heater when he realized it was 18 years old.

They were also able to take care of the entire project in about two weeks, which was just in time for Pierre to enjoy their efforts after he returned home from rehab.

Altogether, the costs added up to $1,300 to be taken care of between the assisting charities.

Gotto expressed her immense satisfaction with the work and her gratitude toward all those who were able and willing to help and show their generosity – particularly Bradley and Lerch, who got everything put together to begin with.

“I’d like to really thank Kelly Lerch for what she’s done for us and Tom Bradley, who was just amazing,” Gotto said.

Bradley said he’s worked with House of Neighborly Service before and was just trying to help however he could.

Gotto also said that Pierre is quite happy with the renovations himself, saying that it’s everything he needed.

She added that she would like to thank those in her parish and community for their prayers and kind words throughout the process.