The first thing Nancy Jackson did when her new home was revealed to her was cover her face with her hands and hug one of her grandchildren. "I just love it," she said, smiling from ear-to-ear as her relatives pushed her wheelchair from room to room. "It's so beautiful."
But the single-story home wasn't so beautiful just a few months ago. In fact, it wasn't even the same home.
Her Washington Street home just off Palm Beach Boulevard on the east side of Fort Myers was in bad shape, nearly in danger of falling down around her. Despite that, Jackson simply began looking for a little help repairing the dilapidated home.
Instead Jackson found herself the recipient of a completely rebuilt residence provided her by a phalanx of builders, subcontractors and others all under the guidance of Lee BIA Builders Care and Christopher Alan Homes.
Jackson, 66 and a third-generation Fort Myers native, had lived in the original deteriorating dwelling for more than 20 years. Until she was wheeled into the new three-bedroom, two-bath Palm-model home Friday, she had no idea what to expect.
"It's a whole, lot, lot better. I just love it," she said. "They did show me the things they were going to do. But I didn't know it was going to look like this. I’m so happy that everyone did this for me. I thank God for it."
She asked for repairs, they gave her a whole new home
The nonprofit Lee BIA Builders Care often provides emergency construction services at no cost to elderly and/or disabled homeowners. The group cobbled together the help from Christopher Alan to demolish the original structure and start from scratch to build a new, accessible house.
"For me, for our company, it's what we should do, giving back to the community" Ian Schmoyer, CEO of Christopher Alan Homes, said. "We've been successful in our community, and that's because we've had a lot of community support, a lot of team support. Something like this is just something that naturally fits into our culture."
Schmoyer said it was heartbreaking to see the conditions Jackson was living in.
"So obviously, the community stepped up in a very big way," he said. "It was a lot of community support, and we were able to deliver the home."
Jackson's original home had dilapidated flooring, plumbing, electrical and many other issues throughout. The problems posed significant safety concerns given her current health issues and limited mobility.
Rather than remodel, Builders Care and Christopher Alan Homes requested permission to demolish the entire structure, and then built Jackson a new home, at no cost to her. It will provide for her for years to come.
Work was completed in less than six months with a special framing ceremony held in January.
At that time project partners celebrated the halfway point of the project. They gathered to write special messages on the framework of the new home so the Jackson family will always be surrounded by the community’s well wishes, words of encouragement and blessings.
In the months that followed, Christopher Alan Homes and Builders Care collected donations of home goods from the community to provide Jackson with essentials she needs to be comfortable in the new place.
Extra-wide doorways, wider inside spaces, and bench seating in the shower area were just a few of the amenities to give Jackson more access to daily activity.
" I want to talk for a second about the goal of builders, which is to provide emergency home repairs to the elderly, disabled, and those in need and Lee County," BIA board president Justin Thibaut said at the big reveal on Friday. "I've been involved with this organization for a very long time from some of the first projects that we did. And it's hard to say if we've encountered a candidate that's more deserving of what we've done here today than Miss Jackson."
Thibaut said that when those involved first met Jackson, she asked for very little - just some help with things like plumbing and flooring.
"When we started really diving in and seeing what we could and couldn't do, we realized very quickly that she needed a new house. And that's a very big thing to try to get done," Thibaut said. "So we leaned on a lot of our industry partners, trying to find who could do this, we were very fortunate to connect with Christopher Allen Holmes ... . And then along with their trade partners, subs and the community as a whole, we've been able to do something really amazing here."
After taking a grand tour of her home, at times wiping tears from her face, Jackson relaxed and bowed her head as her pastor, Rev. Phoebe Presson of St. Phillip CME Church, blessed the home:
"The journey has not been easy for anyone Lord, but we know you're the same God yesterday, today and forever more. Anoint this house in your Holy Spirit. Anoint so anybody can use it as a testimony of who you are and what you are. Lord, each person who has done anything to this house Lord we ask for a fresh anointing. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen."
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