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    Uncommon Heroes: Inspiring Stories of Ordinary People Who Changed Communities Through Unity
    Uncommon Heroes: Inspiring Stories of Ordinary People Who Changed Communities Through Unity
    Uncommon Heroes: Inspiring Stories of Ordinary People Who Changed Communities Through Unity
    Ebook108 pages1 hour

    Uncommon Heroes: Inspiring Stories of Ordinary People Who Changed Communities Through Unity

    By Dianne Higdon

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    About this ebook

    It is an unfortunate and widespread problem where the elderly and/or disabled are left alone with no one to help, yet they are still expected to uphold to the city standards with their home and property. It is important for the neighborhoods to maintain their community, but what happens to those who can no longer manage their homes?

    Uncommon Heroes is a book of inspiring stories of homeowners in desperate situations who needed help with the upkeep of their home and about the community uniting around them.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateMar 31, 2015
    ISBN9781631926327
    Uncommon Heroes: Inspiring Stories of Ordinary People Who Changed Communities Through Unity

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      Book preview

      Uncommon Heroes - Dianne Higdon

      1993-2014

      CHAPTER 1

      Oh, the Roaches!

      I was shaking a roach off my foot while trying not to look upset in front of Mary. Wes, my husband sternly asked me to stay where I was and draw the layout of the kitchen. He didn’t usually speak to me that strongly, but I could see the desperation in his eyes pleading with me not to come into the kitchen.

      Earlier that month, we were asked by our pastor Ken if we would be interested in helping a local family in need. Wes and I didn’t even have to go home and discuss it or pray about it because Jesus had already told us in His Word to help the needy. We said yes to Ken and wanted to help however we could.

      Our city¹ discovered two homeowners in desperate need of help with no family in the immediate area they could turn to. I always thought that if someone was alone, it was because they lived in a nursing home or lived alone by choice. I never considered the possibility one our own neighbors needing help and here was one of them in our own church neighborhood so this home would be the one we would check out first.

      Their yard had grown beyond what was allowed by city ordinances and the bushes and trees were taking over the house. They had been reported to the city by neighbors, and the code officers’ job was to check on the complaint. Once they knocked on the door to talk to the homeowner, they discovered she was an elderly woman in her eighties, named Mary.

      Years earlier, Mary lost her husband, and within a few months after his passing she had surgery to remove one of her lungs. Things had become so desperate for her in such a short period of time, and even though her home was paid for, her daughter and son-in-law had to move in to help with expenses.

      Her son-in-law was a Vietnam Veteran, who had been severely injured. Her daughter was disabled as well, so they were very limited on the help they could offer Mary. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop the code officers from having to do their job. Mary was given the first warning informing her that the grass was too tall and the bushes were overgrown.

      Because Mary was elderly, the code officers went back to the fire department to add her house to the list of monthly smoke detector checks. Checking on the smoke detectors of the elderly and disabled was a regular event for this city’s fire department.

      The time came for the firefighters to check on the new additions to the list and as they entered Mary’s house, they were dismayed at the condition of the inside of the house. There were boxes stacked on top of each other full of their belongings and many dirty dishes in the kitchen. I’m sure the firefighters saw many different things inside the homes they frequented, but it had to be disheartening to see someone who just couldn’t keep up anymore because of her disability. The house appeared to not have had a thorough cleaning in years.

      The firefighters knew the family needed some help, but didn’t know how to begin to even to offer assistance. There were too many homes where the homeowner’s situation had changed and they had no one to help. The fire department brought their concerns to the city leaders hoping there was a possibility for churches in the area to step up and help families like this in need. However, the city leaders had no idea how to approach the subject with the churches.

      In the meantime, pastor Ken was trying to figure out how our church could reach out more into the community and approached the city to see what could be done. He didn’t want church to be just the building, but to be people who would be Jesus to the community. We were already cleaning one of the city parks once a month but could there be more?

      The city was excited to learn their concerns for this homeowner might actually have a chance to be addressed. And this would be the beginning of a long-lasting relationship between the city and the church.

      Wes and I had our remodeling company at the time, so Ken came to us to look at the house. We already belonged to a small committee in our church where we helped the elderly, handicapped or disabled in our own church family. There were five of us, led by a blind man, who had the desire to help those who couldn’t help themselves, so of course we were excited to see how we could help this family.

      Ken shared with us the condition of the house, told us some of the story about Mary and what she had been through, but we were never ready for what we saw when went inside to meet the family.

      Fortunately, suggestions were made for us to wear long sleeves, long pants, socks and boots when we went to visit. It was a good thing it was winter or we would have had some explaining to do about our attire. Mary welcomed us in with a big smile on her face and was so excited she was possibly going to get some help after all these years.

      As we walked into the house back to the living area where the rest of the family was waiting, it was all I could do to keep my mouth closed and my eyes ahead instead of looking all around. The description of the condition of the house we were given was not exactly what my mind had pictured. I could not believe what I was seeing with my own eyes.

      The house must have been built in the early 1960s, and what was left of the carpet was probably the original. Of course, we couldn’t see much of it because of the many boxes and things sitting on the floor. The white paint on the walls had turned yellow over the many years of neglect.

      Mary listened intently as we made introductions all around. They asked us to sit down, but we just couldn’t bring ourselves to sit in the chairs they offered. We were there to assess the situation and look around to see what if anything, could possibly be done to help Mary and her family and hopefully learn more grace.

      I had my pad and pencil in my hand ready to take notes, but I felt frozen where I stood, and Wes knew what must have been going through my head as he headed towards the kitchen. That’s when he informed me not to move. Good thing for me, since I’m not sure my feet would have moved anyway.

      As I was drawing the layout of the kitchen while Wes provided the measurements, I realized Mary had been talking to us and I hadn’t said a word back yet. Luckily, the others did the talking for me.

      The kitchen wasn’t too big, so the drawing with measurements went rather quickly. We didn’t dare talk about anything we could or could not do for Mary because we didn’t know ourselves at the time. We were then ready to go look at the rest of the house, and it was time for my feet to move from their current location.

      Wes came out of the kitchen and took me by my arm to help me get moving again. If he pulled my arm enough, my feet would have to move to keep me from falling, so here begins our tour through the rest of the house.

      I won’t explain each room individually to you since they all looked mostly the same with the amount of boxes and things in each. It’s definitely different when you actually see it for yourself and walk through it. That was hard enough for me, but the roaches. Oh, the roaches on the floor, on the boxes and everywhere!

      My dear, sweet husband was so thoughtful in helping me through the hallway by putting his arm on one side of me and then the other. I was smiling from his touch and turned around to give him a loving smile back to show him how much that meant to me until I saw his face. He wasn’t looking at me the same way. In fact, he wasn’t looking at me at all. His arm was actually keeping me from accidentally touching the walls of the hallway and his eyes were watching the walls.

      A little disappointed at him not looking at me, I looked to see what he was looking at instead. Roaches! The roaches can’t actually be on the walls too? They were at the height where they could look me in the eyes instead of under my feet! It’s a good thing that Mary had stayed seated in the living room where she couldn’t see me freak out. That day, I learned how to freak out without making any noise. Not sure if that’s a milestone I want to keep in my memory.

      The master bathroom shower needed to be modified for Mary to get in and out of without the possibility of

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