Faith Works Coalition recently marked a major milestone while working on Debbie Maloney-Shain’s Virginia Beach home.

The project, which included repairs to the front sidewalk, a worn bathroom floor and a porch railing, was the 1,000th completed in the coalition’s history.

Maloney-Shain watched as volunteers sawed and hammered inside and outside her Old Beach home, built in the 1940s. She had tears in her eyes as she thanked Faith Works and the community for “wrapping their arms around us.”

She and husband Dan Shain served the homeless through the Volunteers of America Lighthouse day support center for almost 25 years. In 2015, Dan Shain retired due to health issues, and his wife followed suit the next year to help care for him.

Faith Works president Glen Sweitzer Jr. said the couple gave so much to others, and they wanted to thank them for making a difference in so many lives. Dan Shain died just weeks before the scheduled repairs.

Founded in 2008, Faith Works Coalition, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that serves Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, is funded mostly by donations and supported by church-based outreach groups, youth and adult groups, military, businesses and individuals.

The goal is “to help disadvantaged homeowners stay safe, warm and dry in their own homes,” said Sweitzer, 38, a Kempsville High graduate and owner of Regal Renovations company.

The official mission is to eliminate poor living conditions by providing health and safety repairs for elderly, disabled and low-income homeowners in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. Almost 100% of donations to the organization goes toward projects — “no overhead,” Sweitzer said.

He and others volunteer “because we feel God has blessed us with a certain skill set,” he said.

Volunteer Mike Nickelsburg is a retired engineer who moved to the North End area of Virginia Beach after living in Kempsville for 25 years.

Helping Faith Works has been “a satisfying way to spend a retirement,” he said, adding that he doesn’t have a yard to take care of anymore, so working outside other homes allows him to get his yard fix. And there are “lots of warm fuzzies,” thanks to grateful recipients, he said.

Chesapeake resident Alex Frye retired from the insurance business in 1999 and has volunteered with the coalition since 2010.

“I felt I needed to do something to help people,” he said.

He recently led a group of volunteers in building a much-needed deck for LaGina and Robert Reese, who have resided in a mobile home park off Indian River Road in Chesapeake for 11 years.

They connected with Faith Works through their church. LaGina Reese said they were thankful for repairs made to their bathroom more than a year ago and for the group’s recent return.

Volunteers spent an entire morning building an 8-by-10-foot wooden deck and entryway steps for their home. The old steps had dangerous gaps, which once caused their young grandson to slip.

“It’s so awesome to open up my front door and see the beautiful work,” LaGina Reese said. “I just love it.”

Last year, Faith Works completed 163 projects, including the repair of a tub and leaky faucet for a Chesapeake woman living with her four grandchildren in an older home and the replacement of a damaged gutter and several windows in the town house of a couple and their eight children.

In Virginia Beach, they repaired a leaky roof for a senior citizen with medical issues and also fixed some electrical wiring and replaced a ceiling fan for an elderly woman in need.

The list is long. Wheelchair ramps have also been built, storm doors installed, thermostats and heating and air conditioning units replaced and much more.

More volunteers, especially with contracting or construction experience, are needed, Sweitzer said.

“We really could use the added support.”

For more information, visit Faith Works Coalition on Facebook or go to faithworkscoalition.org.