McMath Family Home Restoration Fund

Hi, my name is Elise. For the past four years since my dad retired at 70, I was helping him live out his life-long dream of restoring his grandparents' house in his hometown. The house meant a lot to him because it's been in our family for four generations, it's where he grew up, and it was where his mother tragically passed away. I think restoring the house to him was like restoring his heart in a way, and an effort to make sure our family heritage would be preserved.

He got a lot of work done - he demolished the addition that wasn't original to the house, got all new windows, built a front and back porch, and demolished the entire inside so that now it's "gutted" and open. On April 30, my dad had a heart attack, leaving me with the task to finish what he started. We had just gone over there the day prior to cut the grass and see the final product of the inside demolition. He kept saying what a great day it had been.

I plan to do as much of the remaining work while living in the house, but to get an occupancy permit, I have to get it into "liveable" condition. But getting it to that point comes at a hefty price. At minimum, I need to have the rough-end plumbing and electric on the first and second floors done, and ideally get the HVAC system installed before installing sheetrock. From there, I plan to try to finish it myself with the money I have saved up.

It's not easy asking for help, but I figured with the following I generated from TikTok by sharing our family's story, it's at least worth a shot. All I want is to finish my dad's dream and make him proud. Thanks for your consideration. Elise