Name: Roberta Puentas

City: Santa Rosa

Disability: Heat Intolerance, Fibromyalgia, Generative Disc Disease, Arthritis, Diabetes, Diabetic Neuropathy, Bi Polar

Roberta is a woman of strong faith and believer in prayer.  Her congregation is her spiritual family giving her socialization, friendship and a reason to get out of the apartment.  She loves life, animals and nature. Her two sweet little dogs, Chiquita and Pepe, are never far from her side and this trio obviously adores each other. Besides faith she enjoys gardening, feeding the birds on her patio garden and doing hand work like crocheting and knitting.

Roberta stresses the importance of maintaining her routine to ensure her survival. She has heat intolerance, something she inherited from her mother. Not being able to tolerate temperatures over 70 degrees has been a lifelong challenge. She avoids leaving the house during the middle of the day or she starts to have heart palpitations, sweating and will pass out.

The HEAP Program (Home Energy Assistance Program) helped her with her first air conditioning unit here in her apartment. She’s been in her apartment 17 years. Over time the air conditioning unit began leaking and eventually mushrooms started growing under it! Roberta came to DSLC to ask if we could help her with a new unit. She met with Judi Johnson, Housing Coordinator, who helped her sign up with Season of Sharing. Season of Sharing is a program offered by Catholic Charities for qualified residents of Santa Rosa, Cotati, and Rohnert Park.

After a few bumps in the road with some contractors, everything fell into place. Roberta describes her experience, “Judi offered me a lot of support which I really appreciated. I was worried I wouldn’t find someone reliable. We finally found Dan the Handy Man and he was wonderful. I have my air conditioner!”