'A miracle of partnership': Matthew House residents enjoy cooler temperatures thanks to local company

Residents at Windsor's Matthew House are enjoying cooler temperatures, thanks to a local company family-owned stepping forward to replace air conditioning units that stopped working in June.

Mike Morency, the home's executive director, made a plea for help after the units broke down, saying at the time it would cost about $40,000 to replace the four air conditioning units.

Bryan Hazzard a longtime resident of Forest Glade and his team at AbsoluteComfort answered the call, providing the units and installing them at a much cheaper rate than other contractors were asking.

"It's a miracle of partnership, because we were having quotes of $60,000 do this work and we come in way cheaper than that," Morency told CBC Windsor.

"Some of those quotes at $60,000 were just to replace the AC units. [But this contractor] came in about 45 per cent cheaper than any other quote and that really goes back to the fact that it's a local company, a family-owned company that cares and wanted to partner with Matthew House.

"And then on top of that, they hosted a fundraising barbecue for us that brought in an additional $1,500," Morency added.

Morency said Hazzard and his team at the local heating and cooling company went absolutely above and beyond, installing new hot water tanks and the cooling units a more efficient system that will save Matthew House a lot of money in the long run.

Matthew House provides emergency shelter and settlement support to refugee claimants and asylum seekers who have not yet had a hearing, and therefore aren't eligible for government settlement assistance.

The house is 100 per cent donor funded.

Hazzard said it was an easy decision to jump in and help once he learned about the situation.

"I've lived in Forest Glades since the mid 80s and any chance we have to help give back to our community, we always look for it," he said.

"This presented some particular challenges because it was a very large amount of work that needed to be done. So, we were able to plan it and get it co-ordinated over several months so that we could take care of it and give back."

Morency said they still need to raise about $13,000 to cover the cost of the equipment install and he's once again appealing to community partners for help.