“The funding is the issue. We’re kind of stalled,” said Israel Nelson, who is mostly spearheading the effort. According to the project’s website — jimalaskawhitehouse.com — there’s $20,000 in the bank, but the effort is a $100,000 project.
“We are getting little dribs and drabs of funding in, but not in the amount that we really need,” he said.
 ROBERT DeBERRY/Frontiersman Jim White sits in front of the foundation for his new home Monday afternoon. |
White is a double amputee. He lost first one leg and then the other to peripheral artery disease. He and Nelson connected over their personal horror stories with Social Security. Social Security was partly to blame for Jim’s living conditions; he couldn’t get a job to make money and still count on health insurance. That left White living in a leaky trailer home long past its useful life, with a hallway and some doors too narrow for his wheelchair.
White said receiving this charity has been humbling. For so long, he said, he’s been used to doing things for himself. Since he lost his legs, the former school bus driver has become pretty inventive, rigging up ramps and outfitting his chair with home-built accessories. There are few tasks White can’t fabricate a tool to solve.
Last October, when the effort to build the new house kicked into gear, White said he had trouble accepting help from people. Has it gotten any easier?
“Just a little. It’s still a little difficult when you’re used to doing everything for yourself,” he said. “I’m evolving somewhat, the way I go about doing things. I’m getting more and more self-sufficient all the time, but there are some things that are just beyond my capability.”
Building a house falls into that category.
Nelson said that White’s upbeat demeanor and can-do attitude are mostly what got him interested in the project in the first place. He used a story to illustrate what he means. A while back, the Mat-Su Home Builders Association put on a golf tournament to raise funds for the project. White was all ready to go, but then his car stopped working. He’d just put in a new engine when the transmission went out.
White filled in the details. Knowing the car wouldn’t work, he rolled his wheelchair up onto a trailer he has and borrowed a friend’s six-wheeler. He strapped the chair down and climbed onto the six-wheeler and drove up a trail all the way to Settler’s Bay golf course.
“It’s that kind of innovation that really needs to be rewarded,” Nelson said.
He said the Mat-Su Home Builders Association has been a big help. Aside from raising funds, the association has pulled together the team to build the house. Bob Pevan of Tru Built Construction has signed on as the contractor.
On the financial side, United Protestant Church in Palmer has set up a low-cost housing fund with White as the first recipient. Going this route makes donations tax-deductible.
And, Nelson said, he’s also received a lot of help from Art Gravely, a volunteer at Bishop’s Attic.
“He’s been kind of taking stuff out of the donations that we an use — light fixtures, a shower base,” Nelson said.
He said he’s received checks as large as $5,000, but most are around $25 or $50. Consteel Concrete offered a half-price septic tank that building-mover Darrel Greenstreet paid for. Peltier Construction laid the foundation using blocks donated by Valley Block and Concrete.
To list everyone who has contributed so far would take more space than is available. Suffice to say, it really is a community effort, Nelson said. And the end result isn’t going to be anything fancy.
“It’s a very simple, plain house, except that it probably will be sided with white siding,” Nelson said, adding all along they’ve been talking about putting Jim White in a white house.
But what if someone had blue siding to donate?
“Oh, I wouldn’t turn it down,” Nelson said.
Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.
Comments
4 comment(s)2 gidzill wrote on Jul 13, 2010 5:59 PM:
offtopic wrote on Jul 13, 2010 1:46 PM:
what did he say wrote on Jul 13, 2010 10:35 AM:
Huh?? What did he say?? Looks to me like he needs to learn to read & write. "
bidzill wrote on Jul 13, 2010 2:14 AM: