An art center that serves veterans and their families in Grand Junction, Colorado, is finally getting needed repairs after years of leaks and becoming a target of theft.

The Veteran’s Art Center is getting an updated roof to fix the damage issues that have long weighed on CEO Wendy Hoffman’s mind and heart, KREX reported Tuesday.

After the center bought the building in 2013 and raised $20,000 through donations, a fundraiser, and a grant, Hoffman thought things were going to start moving forward. However, once she paid a contractor to do the work in 2025, he never returned and the money vanished.

Hoffman said it was a “devastating feeling” and the contractor, identified as Kurtis Smith, was accused of stealing the funds. He was later arrested, but the nonprofit was back where it started.

Video footage from October showed the building’s damaged ceiling:

When the community heard about the center’s predicament, workers with Full Curl Roofing decided they could help by donating the labor and materials to get the job done.

Co-owner Brett Ross told KJCT it was a significant project but “we just started plugging along and making it happen. We knew it was going to be a big undertaking to try to do such a large project at no cost to the art center.”

Ross, who is a veteran himself, noted that help also came in the form of materials donated by Delta Metals, American Roofing Supply, Rocky Mountain Reps Inc., and Versico Roofing Systems, according to the Daily Sentinel.

He also explained, “We removed the old roof down to the deck and we’re going back with a new membrane. So, it’s already happening.”

Hoffman is beyond pleased to be able to get back to serving those who gave so much to their country.

“The whole idea is to give veterans and their families a place to come, work on art and heal at no charge. And it’s working,” she told the Sentinel.