Mary and Jerry Price wait for the day when they’ll be able to move into their new home.

There’s only one problem. There isn’t enough money to put the finishing touches on their house.

The Price’s story began earlier this year when Tammy Roberts visited the two as part of the Lowe’s Heroes Project.

Lowe’s had approached the McDowell Housing Coalition about helping with some of the coalition’s projects after the one they had planned fell through. It was then the team was given the Price’s information so that they could start on repairs.

Initially, Roberts thought that her crew would just repair a fireplace in the Prices’ home, but when she arrived she knew immediately that something else had to be done.

“When I first visited Mary and Jerry I didn’t know how they were living in their home,” said Roberts. “There were holes in the floors, holes in the walls and Jerry told me that when it rained at night he had to stay up to empty five gallon buckets that caught water from the roof.”

It was then that the human resources manager thought of building the two a new home that could keep them safe and offer them amenities that they have lived without for years.

The two are forced to take sponge bathes because their shower doesn’t work and plugging an item in is risky.

“They’re constantly blowing fuses because of the electrical problems they have in the house,” said Roberts.

Mary’s grandson Jerry sometimes has a hard time preparing meals for the two because of the outdated wiring inside their home.

“Sometimes I turn that one burner on and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t,” said Jerry. “It’s hard to cook when you don’t know if the stoves going to work or not.”

After doing a little digging Roberts found out that it would take about $12,000 to create a small home for Mary and Jerry.

“In January we had an article in the paper and after that the community really stepped up and helped us raise the amount we thought we would need for the home,” stated Roberts.

But an unforeseen problem with the family’s well cost the crew nearly half of its budget for the home.

“When we tested the Prices’ well we found that it had been contaminated by the septic tank,” said Roberts. “At that point we had to dig them a new well, which cost us around $6,000.

This major setback hurt the crew but didn’t prevent them from doing as much as they could. Right now, all four walls are up, all the electrical is wired and all the plumbing is done, but, to move the two in, the house has to be finished.

“I know with Christmas right around the corner a lot of folks don’t have a lot to give, but we would love to have Mary and Jerry in their home by Christmas or New Year’s,” said Roberts.

Right now, Roberts and her crew of volunteers need funds to complete the project. The group still has to purchase sheet rock, laminate flooring, an apartment-sized stove and refrigerator and find a heating source and someone to install it in the Prices’ new home.

“We’ve got folks to put up the dry wall, but we need funds to buy supplies to do that,” said Roberts. “P.G. Baptist Men’s Association has even agreed to build a handicap ramp for the house, but we need funds to buy materials.”

Mary and her son Jerry are thankful for all that Lowe’s and community members who have volunteered their time and skills.

They hope to be in their home by Christmas, but if they can’t be they’re grateful that this year they’ll have at least one room in their home heated for the holidays.

“I’ve lived in this house for a long time and if I’m still here on Christmas I guess I’ll have one more Christmas in this house,” said Mary.

Fund for this project can be donated at Wells Fargo Bank to the MHC Price Project No. 68.

For more information on the project, call Tammy Roberts at 659-5960, ext. 204.