Dozens of Strangers Work for Hours To Save Desperate Grandma's Home from Being Condemned
Few of us realize just how thin the thread is that holds our day-to-day lives together. We believe that our routines are unshakable, as unchanging as the seasons or the sun in the sky.
Yet let a blood clot cruise through our veins or a few bad months rock our employers and what happens? Our worlds collapse.
We can’t hold down a job or pay our bills. We can even lose our homes, the houses we hold dear blown away as if by the wind.
That was what nearly happened to Kenny Oney of Chesterfield, Virginia, in 2015. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, he fell ill around 2012.
With the illness came an inability to hold down a job or maintain his house. So when a water pipe burst and he couldn’t afford to fix it, his bills went sky high and the municipality turned off his water — for three years.
When a neighbor complained, property maintenance inspector Bonnie Johnson came to investigate. She could’ve condemned the home, which was well within her rights.
Instead, she got on the phone and started calling local businesses to see if they would donate their services. Several did, and Oney ended up back in his home.
“This is just what I do,” Johnson said. “All I did was make phone calls.”
Something similar happened in Copley Township, Ohio, in August. Betty Walker’s husband, who was a contractor, had started a massive home improvement project.
But when the persistent ache in his gut was revealed to be lymphoma, his plans fell apart as his health grew worse and worse. Eventually, he passed away, leaving Walker without any way to repair her home.
Deemed a nuisance property by the county, it could’ve been condemned and demolished. Yet WJW reported that Copley Code Enforcement Officer Jeffrey Newman did something amazing.
He assembled a group of volunteers to fix both Walker’s residence and other crumbling homes in the neighborhood. “We want to revitalize areas in Copley and this is a nice way to help those who are in need,” he said.
Gina Gibson knows the elation that Walker must’ve felt. Like Walker, her husband died several years ago.
As her gutters broke and her garage started to deteriorate, neighbors began to petition the city. That drew the ire of local authorities.
“We got letters,” Gibson explained to KMBC. “There was a neighbor complaint that things weren’t up to code and it was more than what we could afford, so we just asked for help.”
That help came from 30 volunteers with the Claycomo Ford Plant’s UAW 249 motorcycle committee. Utter strangers, they descended on Gibson’s home with tools, new siding and new gutters, bringing it into compliance with local codes.
“When we heard about this we knew we had to step in,” member Gary Thomas said. “This world needs helpers.”
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