DERRY — He never knows what house it will be. It could happen early in the year or maybe toward the end, at the holidays.
But somewhere in every 12-month period, Derry roofer Steve DeFrancesco gets the feeling it's time to do something good for someone in need.
Last week, that feeling led him to Rita Ouellette.
Every year for the past seven, DeFrancesco has given a free roofing job to someone who needs it.
Ouellette was the most recent recipient.
DeFrancesco doesn't randomly pick a person to help — he says a higher power gives him a bit of direction on where to turn with his roofing talents.
"For the last seven years, God has been blessing me so much and my family," he said. "I'm sowing the seeds and reaping the harvest."
The harvest for DeFrancesco comes in the form of his livelihood — a family-oriented roofing and construction business that works all year long to do quality work for customers all over the area.
When it's time to offer the free roof to someone, DeFrancesco said he only finds out once he gets there.
"I don't know until I get to the job," he said. "I'll know by the time I knock on the door and meet the customers."
Or he could be pulling into the driveway when the rush comes over him, letting him know this is the one.
The Derry roofer said he gets many phone calls for roof work. Some jobs are harder and more expensive than others.
In Ouellette's case, the roof on her Folsom Road home had angles and pitches. The job might have cost upward of $16,000 or more to complete.
"She called, her husband had passed away the year before," DeFrancesco said. "God just put it on my heart. Rita couldn't do it on her own."
DeFrancesco said he couldn't wait to tell Rita she would be getting her roof free of charge.
"Their eyes fill up with tears when they hear," he said. "And the feeling I get when I leave is so much more valuable. I'm sowing these seeds."
For Ouellette, 80, sitting in the home she's owned since 1957 and hearing the roofers banging and nailing above her head was like hearing angels sing.
She has struggled since her husband died. The bills pile up, she said, living on a fixed income is not easy.
"Picture someone coming to your door, wanting to do something for me, wanting to do my roof," she said, fighting back tears. "I look at it as a miracle."
The slight woman gave DeFrancesco a big hug as she sent him off to finish his work.
DeFrancesco said it's so much more than just giving someone a free roof.
He credits his relationship with NorthRidge Church in Derry for leading him forward as a positive business model, husband and father.
"That's what NorthRidge gives me, a tremendous amount of hope and faith and leadership," he said. "And everything I do comes back so much to us tenfold."
So why is DeFrancesco the one?
He said perhaps it's God's way of showing others that miracles can still happen.
"I think God is using me as one of his shepherds to spread good news," he said. "There are still miracles that take place on Earth. We are just one little dot in what he can do."
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