Resurrecting Hope

The Sargent Inaugural Project

The Sargent House is really a 30+ year old double-wide trailer, that has seen
multiple additions to the point that one would not guess that there was a trailer
underneath. It is owned and occupied by Bill (72) & Elaine (64) Sargent (pictured
right), who have lived there over 30 years themselves, and their three grandsons,
Ryan (14), Michael (12), and Shane (7) (pictured left). Bill and Elaine actually
adopted the three boys after their mother & father were both sentenced to prison.

The entire family lives on social security
benefits. Bill Sargent, a former construction
worker, is diabetic, has suffered two
strokes, a coma, and has survived kidney
cancer; which ultimately ended with the
removal of the affected kidney. He is
physically unable to support the family.
Elaine has congestive heart failure and
COPD. Unfortunately, because she is not yet
65, she does not qualify for medicare, and
has no insurance. Multiple hospital stays &
proceedures for both of them have created
a mountain of debt that they may never be
able to pay.

The medical bills don't stop with Bill and Elaine. The oldest boy, Ryan, was born with a hole in his heart, and must still take
medication for it. He contracted Spinal Meningitis when he was younger, which resulted in the loss of hearing in one ear,
and, according to Elaine, he received too much oxygen while he was being treated, resulting in a learning disability. He has
also been diagnosed with ADHD. Fortunately, Shane and Michael seem to be in good health.

When Russ and I turned the corner, we knew that we had found our house! It was
evident from the street by the sagging gutters and rotten siding. There were windows
broken out in the front livingroom, in Ryans bedroom, and in the rear storage addition;
each shrouded in black plastic contactor bags. The sliding glass door at the rear of the
kitchen had a large piece of cardboard covering a mighty hole. There was a sizable
rear storage storage building that was literally crumbling to the ground. A carport
stood manacing with swaths of roof dangling like spanish moss from a deep-south tree.
Years of debris cluttered the yard, and a large trampoline was shoved against the
house, waiting patiently for one of the boys to climb a nearby ladder to the roof, and
take a death-defying dive onto its beckoning center... hopefully. Ryan proudly
displayed scrapes from previous leaps gone wrong.)

Entering the house for the first time, we met the Sargents, who were a little more than skeptical about our claims of "free
remodeling". But Russ whipped out his preacher badge, and the were finally convinced that we on the up & up. (Kidding).
Our inspection of the home revealed a lenghthy list of much needed repairs: (see Photo Gallery)

Roof needed major repair
Gutters hanging loose from the house
Nearly half of the siding was rotting
House needed repainted
Multiple broken windows
Broken sliding glass door
Roof falling off of carport
Exterior wood steps rotting
Major plumbing repairs required in bath & kitchen
Floors rotting & and fallen through in hallway & bath
Holes in walls & ceilings
Major electrical hazards
No power in living room
No heat except for small space heater in center of house
Carpet threadbare and stained
Most of the furniture was broken, or worn out

The list goes on and on. The estimated value of repairs needed to make the home livable were approximately $60,000.00!
Thanks to Church at the Grove and their host of volunteers, an aliance of Strategic Partners, and a handful of donors, we
completed this project in 4 weekends! See pictures of the finished project. We are still in need of approximately $4,500.00 to
complete the financing requirements. Please see the Donations page if you would like to help us help the Sargents. Contact
us if you wish to volunteer on this, or another "I Am" or "AUM Phoenix" project.