Heart 2 Home home makeover

Gabe & Jim with the Jazz Bear

Jimmy's best friend is another 6 year old brain tumor survivor, Gabe. They met at the School for the Blind, they have so much in common my oldest boy calls them the "tumor twins". However, Gabe can't come over to our house to play. He has to have medication and injections every few hours and they do not live nearby so Jimmy always goes to where Gabe is staying at the time. I can't say Gabe's house because Gabe and his family are kind of homeless. Gabe's family has had to move out of their home because toxic mold and electrical problems that have made the home unlivable. The entire family has been living with relatives and friends for months and months, they could not afford rent because they still kept paying the mortgage on a home they could not live in. Gabe's 2 little brothers who have major health problems of their own have each had surgeries in the last 3 weeks

Well Monday their house got torn down, now they are really homeless, but only for a week. Just before Christmas Gabe's mom, Mandalina, called to tell me some wonderful news, a local foundation, Heart 2 Home, decided to do an "Extreme Home Makeover" style demo and re-build of their home. They sent the family on vacation while their home is being torn down and re-built.

Gabe and Jim on top of a fire truck monday with the Jazz Bear and the Mayor

We got to see them tear down the house on Monday. What really impresses me is this is all done through donations and volunteer work. Not one of the hundreds of people involved is being paid for the work that they are doing, and everyting is being donated.

To see more of this story:

About the family

Read more of their story and see news video clips

See the home being built LIVE