In November of
2005, my wife, Tonya, and I went on a vacation to Gatlinburg,
Tenn. It was a vacation that would change our lives, though
we did not know exactly how much. The vacation, though very
nice, was not the focus of the change, however. You see we
have a couple of dear friends who have eight kids —
they are wonderful people and happen to live in a very old
home. Ross Hall, the husband, works two jobs to make ends
meet, and when he has time off, he spends most of it working
on their home. His wife, Karen, spends a great deal of time
home schooling the kids with the eldest son recently entering
the Navy. The youngest, Caitlyn, is 8.
We had asked,
and the Halls graciously agreed, to care for our 6-year-old
son, Adam, for the time we would be away on that vacation.
Though we don't get away often, when we've needed
help, the Halls have always been there for us. They are the
type of people who would give what they could to help out and
often do. One of those evenings while away in Gatlinburg, we
were casually watching one of our favorite home makeover
programs on HGTV when it dawned on us to attempt a
'simple' home makeover for the Halls.
Within a few weeks of that date, we had
organized into a small group of people (very small) who were
committed to try to put this all together. Apparently, the
Halls had applied for a home makeover almost two years
earlier, but as Ross has so elegantly put it, they hadn't
the extreme tragedy that often times is associated with a
family chosen for an extreme makeover, and they were fine
with that. I had approached Ross about the idea knowing that
it would require a lot of work, and we needed to be sure it
was something they were 'ok' with. After all, we had
no corporate sponsors, no major backers. We were just a
couple of people that share the same church family and
friendships.
Tina Grooms
(another common friend with the Halls), my wife and I got
together and brainstormed the possibilities, budgets, labor
needs, the works! Little by little, we pulled mom and pop
stores, some larger chain vendors and shops into the project.
We also got a local used car dealership, Home Depot, Lowes,
Wal-Mart and CiCi's Pizza into the action, among others.
My wife spent hours on the phone just getting vendors to
provide meals for the crew we had gathered of about 25 people
from our church family.
We had no budget, because we really
didn't have any money. Of course, Tonya and I had put
aside a little something to use but not much. Eventually, we
received nonprofit status from our church, Trinity Worship
Center, for the cause, and we were able to get a lot more
assistance though many vendors didn't really care about
the tax deduction. We still had no real budget, but people
were providing things left and right to be certain we had
what we needed. Of course, all the while, the family was in
the dark and even Ross was of the impression I would only do
a little computer work for him and some networking. Time was
getting close to the date of May 6 when it all would
begin.
Within three weeks
of the start of the actual construction phase of the project,
I remembered the Elon University Project Pericles Service
Sabbaticals program headed by Dr Tom Arcaro. I, in jest,
mentioned that perhaps I could apply for a Service
Sabbatical, and he said he didn't see why not. That
surprised me because I thought there were deadlines that must
have passed by now, but apparently this was not the case. I
had planned on using up almost all of my remaining vacation
time for the project, which I would have willingly done, but
with the Service Sabbatical, I was able to stay on the job
for two full weeks and complete tasks I otherwise would not
have been able to complete.
The project started on Saturday
morning, May 6, with trucks and trailers all loaded up with
tents, supplies and people. The only thing we had to wait on
was for Karen, Ross and their brood to leave their home. You
see, we had arranged for them to go on a six-day vacation in
Myrtle Beach so we could do the work while they were away.
Fortunately, they were ahead of schedule, and work started
promptly at 10:30 a.m. There were people everywhere, projects
were assigned and rooms scheduled to be completed by certain
times. Well, that didn't work out quite that way, but
everyone knew the tasks to be completed and went to it. We
had walls to move and electricians, carpenters, plumbers,
tillers and cabinet installers all vying for space.
We successfully
moved two walls, revamped their one functioning bathroom and
repaired the second bathroom to functioning status. We
revamped many electrical outlets, installed ceiling fans
throughout, laid carpeting in three rooms and on the
staircase, and installed laminate flooring in another two
rooms and ceramic tile in both bathrooms and the large eat-in
kitchen of 25 x 12. We also created a tile stall and had to
rebuild the supporting structure for the downstairs bathroom.
We painted the entire inside of the home after repairing and
spackling holes. We repaired one hole made by a previous
infestation of termites and another weak spot where water had
damaged the room from a previous water leak.
We installed new
dry wall in the master bedroom and kitchen, plus new
cabinets. We removed two large windows from the kitchen that
looked out into an added laundry room and made a support
structure for more cabinet space. We built a new closet for a
room which had none and replaced all broken window panes
throughout the home. Networking was installed and computer
desks built and installed for the three computers the family
shares. Full wall built-in shelving units were built and
installed in a new home schooling room we designed for them.
We replaced all window hangings and draperies with new ones.
We replaced all broken screens.
A landscaper
working with the project surprised us by bringing in all his
equipment and trimming the trees, replacing dead and dying
shrubs and plants and planting a completely new garden with a
timed, sprinkler system. He even re-graveled the entire
driveway (about five dump truck loads full). A resident
artist at our church painted a full wall mural and many other
scenery paintings throughout the children's rooms. There
is no way I can put into words the work that went into the
project to sufficiently project the accomplishment.
The family was
contacted while on vacation and told to meet someone at a
local restaurant near the highway where one of our members
rented a limo to meet them and bring them to their newly
remodeled home. We had approximately 50 people there with
signs and cheers to greet them.
Karen was tearful and so appreciative
at just the sight of her new gravel driveway -- she did not
realize that we did the inside as well. We proceeded to greet
them in the manner of the extreme makeover projects that we
are all so familiar with and took them room by room through
the house, ending at the new granite countertop kitchen
complete with new 12-seat, solid oak dining table with new
place settings and all the works, including a new
chandelier!
It was a
tremendous experience without one incident. To see so many
people of different abilities band together and make it all
work for one common purpose was truly amazing.
Last, but not least, I want to thank
Elon University, the Project Pericles administrators, Dr. Tom
Arcaro and the gang, and my boss, Fred Melchor, for allowing
me the time for this opportunity to serve a well-deserving
family in our community. Thanks, guys!
Wayne E. Thompson Jr.
