By Raahithi Riya Tripuraneni
Tuesday, October 6th, Willena Williams woke up earlier than usual. She sat by her window, sipping her morning coffee and watched a small stream of people in uniform make their way to her house. People spilled out of one massive truck loaded with equipment and several smaller vans. As she watched on, they set up a table, laid out fruit salad, her favorite Chick-fil-A mini sandwiches, and coffee. She greeted each person in her yard with a hug and a “thank you.”
Earlier, in July, Willena got a call. She had been nominated for Feel the Love, a program that provides a free HVAC installation to one deserving member of the community. A recent visit from a technician revealed that her downstairs HVAC unit was operating at around 7% capacity and needed to be replaced. Willena was living alone after her husband of almost 65 years, Roger Williams, passed away in 2024. Living on a fixed income, she had not anticipated the sudden expenditure.
“I would have to see if I could finance it in monthly payments, or something like that. I’d probably be dead before it was paid off . . .” Every day she hoped the old system would not quit on her.
Upon hearing the news that Willena had been chosen to receive the free HVAC, she started shaking.
“I just went into a state of shock, and I had to call her back,” she said.
Every year since 2009, the company Lennox partnered with a local business to deliver free HVAC installations to important members of the community such as educators, first responders, healthcare workers, and families facing financial and medical hardship. Burnside, the oldest, family-owned HVAC company in McKinney, was Lennox’s partner of choice.
New to managing certain household duties after her husband’s passing, Willena was unaware of the financial burden a new HVAC could be. Tim Harcrow, the Service Manager of Burnside, confirmed the costly home upgrade, “For a house this size, it would be about three grand, with an additional cost of equipment.”
The installation went well. Willena contributed wherever she could and enjoyed chatting with the team. While comparing flashlights with Burnside’s installation manager, Domonick Lane, Willena shared her concerns about navigating the technology of her new system. Willena keeps her tech use to a minimum, using mainly Facebook and Google, opting to print out funny memes she finds online. Domonick returned a smile, assuring her that by the end of the day, she would be a professional, just like the rest of the team.
Willena’s late husband, Roger, used to work for Lennox and transferred to work at Burnside alongside the founder, Donnie. In fact, the original system being replaced had been installed by Donnie over 30 years ago. When Burnside got the news of Roger’s passing, they decided to nominate Willena for the free installation. Watching the old system be replaced symbolized over 30 years of the home’s history, all its stories finally being put to rest. It had finally come full-circle. It felt like a trip to grandma’s, helping her fix up her house, trading old stories and chatting over sandwiches at the dining table.
In Willena’s own words, “You hear all about the negativity of people, but there are so many good people in this world, and they should be commended. I’m here to advocate for that.” This was a celebration of her history and her house, with all the memories that come along with it.
Raahithi Riya Tripuraneni is a student at Collin College. This story is part of a collaboration with Collin College’s Communication Studies course.
