Supporting One Extraordinary Family This Holiday Season
Every December, my heart circles back to a dream I’ve carried for years — a dream of creating something more than business.
A mission built on kindness.
A project rooted in love.
A movement that brings comfort and dignity to families who’ve carried too much for too long.
And this year, that dream begins here — with The Heart of Home Project.
Why This Project Matters
For years, I’ve wanted to start something that went beyond invoices and repair calls — something that restored more than appliances.
Because I’ve seen it — what happens when a family feels seen, loved, and supported.
When a door opens and hope walks in.
I’ve volunteered with The Rock Church’s Project Christmas — where teams quietly decorate the home of a family in need, so when they return… they walk into a miracle.
It’s not a break-in.
It’s a breakthrough.
That moment — when a mom bursts into tears because someone remembered her, because her home feels alive again — it stays with you forever.
So this year, I decided it was time to bring that same magic to life — combining everything I’ve learned from The Repair Tech, my work on the board with Hope on the Hard Road, and my partnerships with WMNS San Diego — to create something beautiful, lasting, and deeply human.
Hope on the Hard Road: The Heart Behind the Mission
If you know me, you know my heart lives at the intersection of family, service, and community.
I believe in showing up for people.
In loving out loud.
In building things that matter.
I serve on the board of Hope on the Hard Road, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting and encouraging families raising children with special needs through programs that nurture the individual, the family, and the community.
Hope’s mission has always been clear: to provide support, resources, and connection for families who often feel unseen.
This project — The Heart of Home — fits perfectly into that heartbeat.
Because comfort isn’t just physical.
It’s emotional.
It’s knowing you’re seen and valued.
It’s walking into your home and feeling hope again.
Their Story
(We’re keeping their names private until after Christmas — but their story deserves to be told.)
This family has weathered more than their share of storms.The mother — we’ll call her “J” — is a devoted mom, caregiver, and creative soul who finds her peace through art. Painting became her lifeline — a quiet, sacred place where she pours out pain, gratitude, and faith in each brushstroke.
But life has not gone easy on her.
Just weeks ago, J underwent major ankle surgery after shattering her leg in three places. Her recovery is grueling — metal plates, screws, physical therapy, restless nights, and the constant ache of healing. Yet somehow, through exhaustion and pain, she still shows up every day to care for her daughter.
That daughter — “G” — is her heartbeat.
G survived a near-drowning accident at three years old, leaving her with a severe brain injury and complex medical needs. For over two decades, J has been her full-time caregiver — nurse, advocate, and protector.
Their home is filled with the hum of medical equipment: suction machines, feeding pumps, oxygen, monitors, and wheelchairs. Every three hours, J turns her daughter to prevent pain and pressure sores. Every day, she coordinates nurses, medicines, and therapy schedules. Every moment, she listens — to her daughter’s breathing, to her silence, to her laughter that still somehow fills the house with joy.
J calls her daughter her greatest teacher.
She’s learned to find beauty in the broken, to hold grief and gratitude in the same hand, and to live by faith even when nothing makes sense.
The Struggles Behind the Scenes
This family’s story isn’t one of tragedy — it’s one of relentless courage. But courage alone doesn’t pay the bills or fix a crumbling home.
In recent years, they’ve endured one heartbreak after another:
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The loss of both of J’s parents — pillars of love and support.
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Mounting medical bills and denied insurance appeals.
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The failure of a temporary home modification meant to make caregiving easier — which instead caused major water damage throughout the house.
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Endless paperwork and technical denials for funding that should have helped them build a simple, safe, roll-in shower for G.
For over two years, J has fought to get her daughter that shower — something most of us take for granted. Every grant, every state program, every charity application has said no.
They call it “non-qualifying.”
We call it unacceptable.
When temporary fixes failed, J used her own savings to try again — and ended up with repair costs and new damage to deal with.
And all of this while she herself is recovering from surgery, learning to walk again, and sleeping in a recliner because she can’t manage stairs.
Still, she paints.
Still, she prays.
Still, she thanks God for every meal that shows up at her door.
Because that’s who she is — the kind of person who whispers gratitude in the middle of grief, and who refuses to stop believing that light will find them again.
Why We Chose Them
Because this family is what the Heart of Home Project stands for.
They don’t ask for luxuries.
They ask for dignity, safety, and a little bit of peace.
J doesn’t post to complain — she posts to encourage. She shares her pain not for pity, but to remind others that hope still exists.
She writes about what it means to wear “the lab coat of motherhood” — a coat stitched with trauma, resilience, and love. She talks about her faith in a God who listens even when words fail, and the way prayer changes her heart even when it doesn’t change her circumstances.
She’s a mother who advocates for her daughter like a seasoned nurse, a counselor who comforts other parents, an artist who paints light into darkness, and a woman who continues to believe in grace after everything she’s lost.
G, despite her challenges, brings joy wherever she goes. Nurses, visitors, and volunteers all describe her as radiant. Her laughter bubbles up from a body that shouldn’t even be able to — a miracle wrapped in innocence and courage.
This family has become a quiet lighthouse for others walking through impossible storms. They represent faith, resilience, and the purest form of love — the kind that keeps showing up, even when it hurts.
They are the heart of this project.
Why They Deserve Our Help
Because J is the kind of person who has spent decades giving everything — and asking for nothing.
She’s raised her daughter with tenderness, creativity, and strength most of us can’t even fathom. She’s spent holidays in hospitals, painted through grief, and prayed through pain — not for herself, but for others.
And now, she needs us to show up for her.
To remind her that her community sees her.
That she’s not alone.
That love can come back around — in meals, in donations, in lights strung up on her porch, and in the peace of knowing her home is safe again.
Because the truth is, she’s earned this.
Not through perfection — but through persistence, faith, and love.
✨ What We’re Doing
This holiday season, we’re transforming their home into a space of warmth and rest.
We’ll be:
Filling their space with Christmas lights, comfort, and joy.
️ Providing comfort gifts, accessibility updates, and home repairs.
Donating meals, supplies, and thoughtful self-care items.
Partnering with small businesses and volunteers to make this Christmas unforgettable.
This isn’t about charity.
It’s about community — people coming together to restore comfort, peace, and hope.
How You Can Help
We’re collecting donations and comfort items through mid-December.
Ways to Give:
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Gift cards (grocery, gas, Target, Walmart)
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Home repair or cleaning services
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Meals or DoorDash gift cards
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Cozy items (blankets, robes, slippers)
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Accessibility and comfort aids
Personal Touches:
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Art supplies for J — paint, brushes, canvases
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Small décor or princess-themed gifts for G
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Handwritten holiday cards and messages of love
Business & Community Support:
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Local sponsorships or service donations
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Drop-off gifts at The Repair Tech office (schedule coming soon!)
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Join our upcoming Pilates & Coffee Fundraiser — details to follow
Want to help? Email SM@TheRepairTech.net
The Bigger Picture
This project is just the beginning.
One day, I hope The Heart of Home Project becomes its own nonprofit — a foundation dedicated to restoring dignity and joy for families who fall through the cracks.
Families like this one.
Families who don’t need charity — they just need a chance.
Because at the end of the day, that’s what we do — as people, as neighbors, as a company with heart:
We don’t just fix things.
We restore what’s broken.
We bring warmth back to cold spaces.
We show people they matter.
️ This Christmas, We Get to Be the Miracle
When this mother walks into her home on Christmas morning and sees the love, the care, and the beauty surrounding her — I want her to know that her community showed up.
That strangers became family.
That hope came home.
Because that’s what this season is about.
Andreina Leal-Carrillo
CEO • Mom • Community Advocate
Founder, The Heart of Home Project
The Repair Tech Inc.
In partnership with
Hope on the Hard Road
WMNS San Diego
Learn more: TheRepairTech.net/The-Heart-of-Home-Project-Comfort-Joy
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