Volunteers Help Repair SW OKC Home After Violent Home Invasion

The Police Athletic League (PAL) mentorship program spent the day completing a community renovation project in Southwest Oklahoma City.

The event is annual, but this year the group was serving one of its own mentees, whose family suffered a home invasion in September.

“The whole community has really come together. It’s actually blowing my mind,” Master Sergeant Mike Rogers, mentorship coordinator for the PAL, said. “To see all the kids that I’ve mentored, want to give back like this lets me know that I’m actually helping teach them to give back to the community and to do the right thing.”

Rogers mentors kids like Guadalupe Rodarte-Chavez, a mentee in the program.

She spent the day painting the side of her own house, alongside volunteers supporting her family through a dark time.

 “I've lived here all my 18 years since she came from Mexico,” Rodarte-Chavez said.

In September an intruder broke into the Rodarte-Chavezes home in Southwest OKC and attacked the family, but the suspect was never caught.

While everyone was physically okay, their home no longer felt safe.

“It was really scary. Me and my sisters, we all slept together in the same room for a couple nights, and, honestly, me and my mom couldn't sleep,” Rodarte-Chavez said.

As their healing journey continues, their community is rallying around them.

“It makes me feel like I have people around me that actually care, especially Mike. Like, he's been such a father figure to me. And you know, it. It means a lot,” Rodarte-Chavez said tearfully.

“We're just doing everything we can to, to help them thrive in life,” Rogers said.

And this renovation goes further than just repairing the damage you can see.

“We, secured the window with security measures. We have alarms, camera systems. We've beefed up the lighting quite a bit,” Rogers said.

The family will be set up with a state-of-the-art security system to give them peace of mind.

“It's been one of the most rewarding things that I’ve ever done,” Rogers said.