TAR HEEL — The spirit of giving didn’t end at Christmas in Bladen County.
On Dec. 27, folks in the Mother County learned of a Tar Heel family that has been living in a child’s playhouse for more than a year without running water, heat or electricity, and the response was immediate. Just three days later, Karen Lewis and her family were moving their belongings into a 32-foot camper on their property. Donated anonymously to the Bladen Baptist Association, the camper was bought, transported and hooked up to water, sewer and electricity before one week had elapsed.
“We just want to do what we can to help this family, and we want this to happen right away,” the donor said one day after the story first appeared in the Bladen Journal. “We don’t want them to have to spend one more night than they have to in these conditions.”
In addition to the camper, a total of $1,200 was paid to the electric company in order to get power turned on at the property, as were all permits needed to get things set up.
The camper sleeps six people and came with bedding, pots and pans, some dishes and curtains — everything a family who has nothing will need in order to make a new start.
On Dec. 30, men from Carolina Crossroads, as well as the camper’s previous owners, took time from their schedule to deliver and set up the camper on Lewis’ property. Lewis, who seemed overwhelmed and in disbelief, acquiesced to their knowledge and experience regarding how things should be installed.
“Our own shower,” said Lewis in amazement, smiling as she toured her new home. For the last year, Lewis and her family have been checking into the cheapest motel they could find, showering and staying there until the money ran out, after which point she and her husband slept in their car.
As she was shown features of her new home, Lewis seemed especially pleased with the kitchen area.
“Now I can start cooking again,” she beamed. Prior to her financial woes, Lewis dreamed of one day opening her own bakery.
The camper — while the largest gift — was just one of many donations that came pouring in for the Lewis family.
“We were so touched,” said one teary couple who donated $700 but preferred to remain anonymous. “Here we are with two homes, and they don’t even have a car to sleep in. Nobody should have to live like that.”
Staff members of the Bladen Journal and sister newspaper The Robesonian collected boxes of toiletries, paper goods, food, clothing and storage containers; ladies from an Elizabethtown church donated restaurant gift cards, toiletries, non-perishable food and paper goods; another church collected six boxes of food; and numerous families offered hot meals or monetary donations to the Lewis family. Several residents offered propane cookers for the family that had previously eaten out of cans.
While they were there setting up the camper, Carolina Crossroads volunteers also agreed to come back at a later date and help clean and organize the property, remove an old building and construct a new lean-to for the animals Lewis likes to take in. The matriarch, who previously showed off how she organized and kept tidy her tiny playhouse, readily agreed to the men’s offer.
When she was handed over the keys to her freedom from the playhouse, Lewis broke down.
“They’re tears of joy, honey,” Bladen Baptist Association representative Connie Holland told a child who kept coming in to check on Lewis.
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The path to the playhouse
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Up to the front door of the playhouse runs a worn-down path, and one who sees the crosscut and knows its creators must wonder which of the two is more downtrodden. The path wasn’t always there, however.
After Lewis’ first husband passed away, Lewis and her children moved with Lewis’ mother into a home that belonged to Lewis’ late maternal grandmother. Around the same time, Lewis suffered a stroke and won a malpractice suit against a Lumberton clinic. She invested all she had in the home in which she and her mother were living.
After she had paid off the remaining mortgage, family disputes ensued, and other family members ended up taking ownership of the home. Lewis and her mother received a small plot of land.
Lewis’ mother soon went into a nursing home and eventually passed away there. When family members advertised the playhouse as available to anyone wishing to take it, Lewis moved the playhouse to her property and began living in it. She remarried, and the couple began planning on getting a home of their own.
When her husband injured himself and went out on disability, things began to fall apart financially. They were unable to continue payments on the double-wide they had selected, and they fell behind on their power, water, vehicle and storage building payments, as well as on property taxes.
Realizing her family was unable to meet financial demands, a daughter dropped out of school in order to work. Someone had to remain at the playhouse at all times, however, because the family feared additional break-ins from nearby drug addicts, who broke into their playhouse numerous times. In addition, Lewis’ job wasn’t offering her very many hours. Further restricting their ability to work was the fact that the tires went out on one of the vehicles, followed by another vehicle being repossessed.
“We’re just trying to survive,” Lewis kept saying prior to receiving help. “I can’t think about tomorrow’s problems. I just wake up every day and try to take care of my family and make it through another day. That’s all we’re doing — surviving.”
Unwilling to move because of sentimental ties to her mother’s property and animals, Lewis and her family migrated from playhouse to motel to car each month, hoping for respite.
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The path forward
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Once the power was turned on and water began pumping in the early part of this week, the immediate crisis was over and recovery began. The camper given to the family can be on the property for up to one year, and then they need a more permanent solution. In order to help them get back on their feet, a fund has been established at the Bladen Baptist Association, where donations made to the fund will be put toward the family’s power and water bills to ease their monthly burdens.
“I don’t want people to think this is a Baptist thing,” said Holland. “This is a family in our community that has a need, and anybody that wants to help, can.”
Because storage is presently an issue, anyone interested in donating is asked to give gas or food gift cards or monetary donations to the Bladen Baptist Association designated “Tar Heel family.”
“I feel like things are going in a good direction,” said Holland. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but we’re getting there.”
In this case, a playhouse path overgrown with grass will be a good thing.
Chrysta Carroll can be reached by calling 910-862-4163.
