Inspired by a local woman’s determination to overcome personal challenges, a local heating and cooling business has provided her with an early Christmas miracle.
Earlier this month, Handy Bros. Home Comfort teamed up with Lally Chevrolet to gift a refurbished Chevy Equinox to Mackenzie Flook, whose story of reclaiming her life has touched so many in the local community.
With the intention of finding a unique way to give back to the community, Handy Bros. CEO Mitch White said he approached the Chatham-Kent chapter of Safe Families Canada, which is where he learned of Flook’s story.
“I found her story super inspiring and the fact that she has come through a lot of it over the last couple of years, I knew that I was motivated to do something,” said White.
Flook spent three years living homeless and struggling with opioid addiction until giving birth to her son, who became a catalyst for change in her life.
White said with the help of community groups such as Safe Families, Flook was able to overcome so many challenges and turn her life around.
“[She] has overcome so much over the last year and a half to two years and has managed to pull herself [up] from addiction while giving birth to her son, and really just becoming the mother that she needs to be,” said White. “It’s pretty rare that somebody can make it through that, so I believe it’s a story worth telling.”
After learning that transportation had been a challenge for Flook, White said providing her with a new car seemed like the best way to remove that burden.
“We decided we were going to get Mackenzie a reliable car and take away that pain point in her life so that she can really focus on being the mom she needs to be, manage the support groups she needs to go to, maintain a community, holding a job and all the rest of it,” he said.
White added that he’s hopeful Flook’s can also help those in similar situations in the future.
“She has something to share with the world,” he said. “There are people in the situation she was in who feel hopeless, and I believe what she’s overcome could also help change another life.”
