INDIAN SHORES \u2014 Without asking a soul for help, Katrena Hale\u2019s friends and neighbors stepped up after last year\u2019s devastating hurricanes. Hale didn\u2019t realize it at the time she surveyed the extensive damage to both her home and business in Indian Shores, but an army of angels was gathering to save the day.<\/p>\n
Hale\u2019s six-unit boutique beachfront resort, Sand Glo Villas at 19316 Gulf Blvd., was built in 1932. The charming property had been Hale\u2019s since July 2000, and she delighted in welcoming guests for the 24 years prior to hurricanes Helene and Milton blowing through. The building was still standing, but 3 to 4 feet of water damage ruined the furnishings, appliances, and stripped flooring down to the floor joist, followed by sand that was everywhere and had pushed down some walls with tremendous force, blocking entrances like concrete.<\/p>\n
According to Hale, before the bridges were back open, Knute Heirman of PSI Concrete called her to say he was on the way, \u201cI have an \u2018Amish\u2019 work crew; we\u2019ll dig you out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heirman brought along five volunteer workers with shovels, and they dug out the sand, so Hale had access to the rooms.<\/p>\n
What goes around comes around. Joshua Otto, once a lonely kid from Madeira Beach who had been befriended by Hale, called her to say he had a bobcat and bucket truck to help with moving the massive sand piles.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were like a mom to me,\u201d said Otto. \u201cYou were always there for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
This time, Otto was there for her. Otto, now a father himself, is the owner of Otto\u2019s Tree Service.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were two times I cried, and this was one of them,\u201d said Hale, so touched by Otto\u2019s gesture.<\/p>\n
Tim Snelgrove of Checkerboard Realty and Sam Becchetti of Key Renter St. Pete partnered to do a crawfish boil, donations from which replaced the linoleum in one unit\u2019s kitchen.<\/p>\n
\u201cReal estate and mortgage people usually in competition with one another just got together and did the right thing,\u201d said Hale.<\/p>\n
A fundraiser was the brainchild of couple Cara and Matt Keelin. Cara was a real estate broker with Inspired Nooks Realty and Matt handled mortgages with Capital City Home Loans. They sold tickets to a \u201cwings and wine\u201d outdoor event that helped replace furniture at Hale\u2019s resort. Frank Chivas of Salt Rock Grill provided the Salt Rock parking lot to hold the event.<\/p>\n
Tim Housdan, who works with Leader One Financial, brought over large fans to the resort to dry things out. Housdan put out an email to affiliates in the Pinellas-Hillsborough area, asking for helpers to shovel sand, and carry trash and damaged furnishings out.<\/p>\n
\u201cEleven volunteers came including nine real estate folks, and Erika Oliver of My Salon Suites, and Alisha Caballero of Sparkl Christmas Lights Pro,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Teresa Yerba, who has worked for Hale for 24 years, came with her husband Marco to provide food for Hale. \u201cThere was enough that I was able to share with my neighbors,\u201d said Hale. \u201cAnd that was the second time I cried through all this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hale\u2019s niece, Emily Hale, and her fianc\u00e9, Kameron Wong, kayaked back and forth a number of times to help provide laundry service to Hale.<\/p>\n
While her home was not habitable, her friends Liz Barrett of Lizard Realty and David Sferrazza, a Realtor, each housed her in spare properties they owned.<\/p>\n
Carol Brawner of Bronze Lady Furnishings worked with Hale on orders, delivery and pricing in advance of Hale paying for it. Republic Bank volunteered to help delay her mortgage payment and worked with her on how to best manage the insurance monies. Largo and Seminole Home Depots also received a shout-out from Hale for the extra help they offered. Even people who had been regular guests at the resort sent money to help.<\/p>\n
The town of Indian Shores was there for her too, she said. \u201cThe Building Department helped me make good decisions regarding repairs,\u201d said Hale. \u201cThe town acted as a partner, and staff was available when I needed them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even former mayor Pat Soranno and his wife, Barbara, pitched in. \u201cWhenever Barbara found furnishings she thought would look good in here (at the resort), she helped get them here,\u201d said Hale.<\/p>\n
There were people she didn\u2019t even know who showed up to help, and others there was not enough space to acknowledge. Hale is grateful for all the help she received. \u201cIt was very humbling,\u201d said Hale.<\/p>\n
Hale is not one to ask for help, attributing her reluctance to accept assistance to her Scotch-Irish heritage. A friend told her when the cleanup started, \u201cAccept the help; don\u2019t block the blessing (to you) that can help somebody else (later on).\u201d<\/p>\n
Sand Glo Villas was closed an entire year from September 2024 until September 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great moment when I put the vacancy sign up again,\u201d said Hale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIAN SHORES \u2014 Without asking a soul for help, Katrena Hale\u2019s friends and neighbors stepped up after last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[32370,596,23002,39726,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-68171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-indian-shores","tag-pinellas-county","tag-resort","tag-sand-glo-villas","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}