Home repair helps single mom and kids

[Key Guy]

From Langley Advance, British Columbia, Canada

http://www2.canada.com/langleyadvance/news/story.html?id=5e5fb4f2-473d-4625-b851-5d56e104f4ae

Quote:

Joyce Myckatyn doesn't consider herself and her four children needy. The single mother from Aldergrove manages to get by, like so many others.

In fact, she considers herself luckier than most. After all, five years ago, she was able to purchase a fixer-upper home on 29th Avenue. Admittedly, when she purchased the house, the basement was flooded and the smell was enough to drive most potential buyers running.

"Me, in my great thinking, I thought we could overcome that," she said, touring the Langley Advance through a home already in construction upheaval, days before the massive repairs were officially scheduled to begin.

"It was doable," Myckatyn remembered convincing herself when buying the house.

"And it's been a real work in progress from day one," she said. In the subsequent years, she's learned well how to swing a hammer, wield a screwdriver, and hoist a shovel, as she attempted to convert the dilapidated two-storey structure and overgrown grounds into a safe environment for her family.

Despite all those efforts, this week the school district custodian and her children, ranging in age from nine to 20, are being evicted from that home - albeit temporarily. They've been selected by the Aldergrove Seventh-day Adventist Church as the recipients of its 2009 home makeover.

Every spring, for the past six years, the church's Acts of Kindness (AOK) ministry accepts nominations for Langley and area residents deserving of what they call their once-a-year Extreme Home Repair project.

For 10 days, residents are asked to move out of the chosen home, while volunteers converge on the residence and repair or makeover a portion.

This year, Myckatyn and her family were picked to be the lucky recipients, explained organizer Francis Douville. They're being asked to vacate from May 15, and not come back again until the reveal on May 24.

"I can't believe all these people whom I don't even know would do this for my family," Myckatyn said.

"It's a wonderful gift," she told the Advance. Though the project doesn't officially start until Friday, pre-work was started in mid-April.

"It's amazing to just watch them come in and do what they do," she said. The organizers, too, are impressed.

"Our Langley community has once again rallied to make an exciting and heartwarming story come to life," said Douville, who estimates close to $40,000 worth of materials has been donated thus far.

"Each time we do this, I am awestruck by generous business people who make the welfare of their community a priority, but this year is extra inspiring because many of these businesses are already feeling the pinch." Despite the economic climate, the spirit of generosity is alive and well, as the business community has shown, he said.

"I know that, in many cases, they do it because they are inspired, as we are, by the courage of the people we are endeavouring to help," Douville said. This year's family is no exception. The Myckatyns worked together to bring their home into shape.

(more text, plus photo online)

[Morning Glory]

What an awesome ministry for the community!! I am very impressed, thanks for sharing this.

Morning Glory