A phone call for an estimate on a home repair turned into a gift one woman could never repay.
Dolores Cisneros discovered she had a severe mold problem in her mobile home at Grenada Mobile Estates in Chula Vista.
The 70-year-old called several companies for estimates, but since she's on a fixed income, it was out of her budget. After she contacted the last company on her list, though she got a surprise.
"They told me they're going to do it for free," Cisneros said. "I was really, really elated and happy because people don't do things for free, especially with the economy the way it is."
Clean Earth Restorations was just paying it forward.
"One of the things that got to me right away: She does donate a lot of her time to the church," Mark Esquivel of Clean Earth said. "Being that it's the holidays, we generally do at least one project a year for the community."
Business owners Paul and Robyn Sukatski have run Clean Earth Restorations for 15 years in San Diego County and feel like if they can't give back to the community, they probably shouldn't be in business.
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"It does feel pretty good, just the smile on her face and giving her the good news on speakerphone," Esquivel said. "She was just overwhelmed. It gave us at the company a really good feeling to be involved in a project like this."
On a scale of 1 to 10, the mold problem was about a 7, Esquivel said. Clean Earth Restorations worked some other good
Samaritans into the project: Mark Dubose of San Diego Pods donated a large storage pod, and Edgar Ranchos of Expert Plumbing donated free labor and materials, as did John Currier from Andraskos Flooring. The workers removed the shower surround, the plumbing fixtures, the old cast-iron tub and the plumbing involved in order to solve the problem.
"When we got here, it was fully exposed to her clothing," Esquivel said. "It's definitely a safe level for her to be in the bathroom now."
The project is about 60 percent complete, but now her home is habitable once again, even without the tub and shower.
Cisneros may be unable to foot the bill, but she is doing her part by trying to spread the word about the companies that donated the services.
"These people are good people," Cisneros said. "People are always complaining and never give compliments -- enough with the complaints. Let's give compliments."
