news article
‘Blessed’ volunteers build home for family
May 6, 2015 / By Tim Norton
The windows and doors were worn away – to shreds.
On the day I visited the Blair family in February, the four inches of fresh snow that had fallen overnight was whipping around their trailer home like children on a fast-moving merry-go-round.
I was well-insulated with my thick winter coat and weather-proof gloves – not to mention a few extra pounds – but my preparations for the cold had done little to block out the 20-degree temperature.
Inside the Blair home, that cutting, cold wind from the outside hadn’t just crept in; it had overtaken the majority of it, as if the walls were paper thin.
Danny and Lisa, the homeowners, told me that in winter, the walls inside the home would ice over, leaving streaks of mold from the moisture come spring. The electricity only worked in half the trailer, and an old wood stove – both dangerous and dirty – was the only source of heat. The family’s boys – 18-year-old Brendan, born with severe mental disabilities, and 7-year-old John – slept on couches in the living room. Their 14-year-old daughter refused to sleep in her room for fear of the rats and snakes that sometimes made their way inside.
The state of the home was desperate enough to break anyone’s heart, but I found it even more troubling that they have had to live in these conditions, because their youngest child, John, is fighting for his life in a bout with cancer.
Last fall, a social worker from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital expressed concern about the family’s living conditions, and the Appalachia Service Project (ASP) was called in. What we found was truly alarming!
But thanks to the kindness of ASP volunteers and supporters, the Blair family has hope for the first time in a long time.
Over the past few months, we have been able to seal up the windows and doors, patch the floors, replace the trailer’s underpinning, get the kids some warm clothes, and make sure the family had enough firewood. These things were accomplished by a group of student volunteers from Iowa State University’s student chapter of the Associated General Contractors.
It helped get the family through, but the truth was plain: the Blairs desperately needed a new home. So, with the help and determination of caring Christians like you, ASP broke ground on a brand new house just last March.
John is a strong little boy, and he seems to be getting better by the day. He’s so excited for a new house, and he loves watching the builders work!
Danny and Lisa also have some special plans for their new home; a home made possible in large measure by ASP volunteers from all over the United States.
Despite being together for more than 20 years, Danny and Lisa have never had a real wedding. So, that’s the plan for their new front porch – a wedding celebration to mark the start of their new life … in a new home, built with love, thanks to you and other compassionate friends of ASP.
About the Appalachia Service Project
Founded in 1969, the Appalachia Service Project (ASP) is a Christian ministry, open to all people, whose vision is “to see substandard housing in Central Appalachia eradicated and everyone who comes into contact with this ministry transformed.” ASP provides life-changing short-term Christian mission volunteer service opportunities bringing youth, adult, and college volunteers into Central Appalachia (Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and West Virginia) to make homes warmer, safer, and drier for families in need. In 2014, ASP deployed 17,030 volunteers working on more than 650 homes.
For more information on how you and your church or other group can get involved as volunteers and/or financial supporters, please visit www.ASPHome.org or call (800) 289-4254.
Note: Staff members of the Appalachia Service Project also contributed to this story.