Cyclists to the rescue in Irongate

Janice Taylor got ripped off by an unscrupulous contractor to the tune of $33,000.

She took a home loan to pay the guy to do some remodeling work in her house on Irongate Way, but the guy bailed in the middle of the job, leaving Taylor with wires hanging from her kitchen ceiling, unpainted walls and pipes that froze in the winter.

“Everything was just a mess,” Taylor said.

Taylor contacted Contractors of America and the D.C. Attorney General’s office and found that he wasn’t licensed to work in Virginia.

The D.C. Attorney General sent letters to the contractor but never got a re­sponse, Taylor said.

“It was just a loss,” she said.

Enter the Fuller Center, which has been sponsoring a group of bicycling volun­teers riding across the country helping people with housing troubles.

The Fuller Center, founded by the late Millard Fuller and his wife, Linda, who also founded Habitat for Humanity in 1976, uses the ride to help raise money for people who need help. Linda Fuller was at Taylor’s house in the Manassas area Friday when the group stopped to help on the last leg of the ride between Seattle to D.C.

Linda Fuller said the annual ride, called The Fuller Center Bike Adventure, helps raise money for people who need help fixing up their houses.

Organization members heard about Taylor’s plight through Northern Virginia Fuller Center and, since the riders were passing by, Taylor got the help she needed “We just like to plug people in where the need exists,” Fuller said.

“She didn’t have any way to track this guy down and bring the matter to justice.”

Fuller said the organization can spend $4,000 to $5,000 per house without charging, but does provide envelopes for program recipients to to give back a little if they can afford it.

“They can be a part of it too, even if it’s just a little bit of help,” Fuller said of the people who receive help from the organization.

“It’s based on the scripture that it’s more blessed to give than to receive,” Fuller said of the program. “We don’t deny a homeowner that blessing.”

Former Washington Redskins running back Brian Mitchell stopped by to help out.

He said his parents taught him that he should help when he could.

“Looking at these young people riding a bike all over the country helping people in need, it’s just what we should be doing,” he said. “I’ve got time on my hands. If you’re going to use your time, use it wisely and come out support great causes and I think this is a great cause.”

Taylor agreed with Mitchell.

“For people to travel clean across from the other side of the country to come and do things here in Virginia ... is just awesome,” said Taylor, who will be starting a new job with a government contractor Monday.

Taylor said she was grateful to the group of cyclists who insulated her walls so her pipes wouldn’t freeze, refitted one of her bathrooms and painted inside and out.

“Everybody is happy with what they’re doing and I just thank God they’re here to do this,” Taylor said.

Taylor heard of the bike riders through her church, Word Alive Church International, asked for help and got it.

“I think it’s important that the people in the community see that there are faith-based organizations that are willing to help anybody in need,” she said. “We need to have that more in the community.”

Senior reporter Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.