Crossing Our Fingers

Recently we FINALLY found a program that helps underprivileged families who's criteria we MAY meet. We're waiting on the application process now. Stay tuned, we'll let you know what happens.

If it does come through we'll be looking for volunteers to help with the construction of the new home. If you'd like to help let me know, and we'll set it up after we're sure if we'll be getting financing or not.

Photo Album

The conditions Ben's family lives in are terrible. These are just a few photos showing how bad it is. To see more photos visit our facebook album.

....believe it or not, this shower was scrubbed, HARD, just before this photo was taken.

Planning a Waffle Breakfast

We're planning a waffle breakfast in the weber/davis county area for Saturday, January 19, 2013. We're looking for volunteers to fill these positions:

Event set-up
Cooking & Serving
Cleaning
Sound and Event Emcee
Event ticket sales

Please let us know if you can donate your time.

More details to follow, stay tuned!

Crowdfunding

Meet Benjamin

This is Benjamin. His home is falling down and despite the fact that his family owns their property outright, he's facing the prospect of being homeless. The home is in such bad repair that his mother has recently accepted the offer of a good friend and moved him and herself into the spare bedroom in their basement. Ben has really struggled with feelings of displacement as a result, but it's simply not safe for them to live on their property until the home can be torn down and a new one built.

Ben is an 11 year old boy with Asperger's Syndrome. He's the youngest of a large family-there are nine siblings total-with four half-sisters on his father's side and three half-sisters and a half-brother on his mother's side. He likes dinosaurs, history and science documentaries, computer games and spending time with his brother and sisters; all of whom are older and live on their own.

His father, James, suffers from some serious mental disabilities, in the form of severe depression and several forms of extreme anxiety. He also shows signs of Asperger's, though his testing for such has been inconclusive. Despite his disabilities and the way they make it difficult for him to hold a full-time job, James works very hard to support his family and provide for their needs. He works as a contractor for a local manufacturing plant and also does contract work out of his home shop for companies who need scale models built. Even with the poor conditions in their home he is still living there because the social form of his anxiety makes him too uncomfortable to join Ben and his wife in their friend's basement.

Due to the contract nature of his work, the hours he works fluctuates from month to month. Most months he works full-time, but occasionally he's laid off for weeks at a time, making it difficult to maintain a steady income. Because of the fluctuating nature of his income combined with the fact that as a contractor he's considered self-employed, he can't obtain a construction loan to build his family a new home.

Ben's mother, Diana, does everything she can to keep things together and fill in the cracks left by the fluctuating nature of James' income. In order to bring in some extra money while staying at home for Ben, she works a number of odd-jobs for several small independent business owners in the community.

She does piece work, administrative work, computer work, web article writing, some web design, basic marketing, research and more. She works as a housekeeper for their Orthodontist and Dentist, in trade for their services. She's a Master Gardener and keeps a small greenhouse, the produce from which she trades to her local chiropractor to pay their bill there. She also works for her brother, an E-Commerce businessman, to market his websites over the internet. Recently she's begun a distance education course with Brigham Young University to finish her degree.

I've rarely met a woman who works so hard. It's her work that keeps the family running. And in a cruel twist of fate, she's recently developed a herniated disk in her lower back. She hasn't let it slow her down, pushing through the pain to accomplish all the little things that need to be done to keep her family functioning. She's always in pain, and I don't know how she does it, but she does so with a smile on her face and a positive attitude.

She has asked not to have her picture shown.

There are so many problems in their home. Mold, mildew, cracks in the walls, broken seals around leaking windows and doors, holes through the sub-floor, damaged hvac ducts, a non-functioning heater, exposed pipes, an unstable foundation, a kitchen that is sinking on one side as the foundation fails, exposed and rotting sub-flooring etc., etc., etc.. It's not fit for habitation, and we'd like to change that and give Benjamin and his family a home that's safe to live in.

 We're going to be holding a series of fundraisers, this February, to raise the funds to build them a new home. We hope to be able to hold at least three; Two in Northern Utah and one in Southern Utah. Stay tuned for details.

We hope you'll follow us in our efforts to bring Ben and his mother back home. Thank you for your support!

Crowdfunding