KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A metro company stepped forward to help a grandmother whose yard was trashed by an AWOL contractor.
The grandmother was just the latest victim of contractor Gene Cole Swain, who has been accused by several homeowners across the metro of taking their money and not doing the work.
But this time there was a happy ending. After FOX 4 Problem Solvers shared the grandma’s story, a landscaping company stepped forward to solve her problem and restore the yard she loves.
In fact, Jeanne Barnhart couldn’t help but smile as she watched a crew from Beaver Creative Environments of Kansas City, Kansas, clean up the mess in her yard that she has been staring out for months.
She said her yard was torn up by Swain after she had paid him to build a storm shelter. Besides never building the storm shelter, he made her once cozy backyard look like a construction site. A large pile of dirt sits under a tarp from a huge hole dug in the middle of her yard. In addition, there’s broken concrete, wood slats and rebar.
FOX 4 Problem Solvers tried to call Swain for comment, but he never returned our phone calls.
Barnhart may never get her storm shelter, but she’s grateful that Beaver Creative is helping her get her yard back. The company used a a bobcat to fill in the hole and carted off wheel barrows full of broken chunks of cement and other debris.
“I think it’s fantastic that people will actually help somebody,” said Jeanne Barnhart.
Eric Tow of Beaver Creative said the landscaping company didn’t hesitate to donate its services because “it was the right thing to do.”
