The VerHines Family Restoration

A message from Bill.
Happy Thanksgiving from the VerHines family.
Looking back over the last 3 years, we feel so much joy. We remember how our friends, and the good people of the surrounding communities, came to our aid in the aftermath of such a terrible drunk driving accident.
That single moment changed everything.
Since the accident, I am spending each day learning new ways to live. I practice to undo the damage done to me. Admitting my weakness isn’t easy, but I need to be able to give my wife and children what they need; a husband and a father. I want to be financially stable and provide for them, but, being honest, what I need right now is help with the basics. Being honest about needing help is right because the bills aren’t getting paid, the taxes are due, and the roof leaks. It’s hard to admit that I no longer have the power to do it on my own, physically, mentally, or financially. I’ve applied for disability, but the wait is long and the needs are great. My goal is to restore to our family what was taken from us 3 years ago: a safe, happy, and secure home. Would you please consider sharing our story with the good people you know and love?
Since our last update, God has given us a daughter and we named her Katie Hopestill.
I pray that your Thanksgiving Day is a time of great joy.

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

My friends...hope still,
Bill VerHines

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
 too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the Lord
 from this time forth and forevermore. 
Psalm 131





From Sarah- 
My name is Sarah Canfield. John is my dad and Bill is my big brother.  At this time my brother and dad are the keepers of our family business, a furniture restoration company located in Wayne, Michigan. For over 50 years, beginning with Great Grandma and Grandpa Verhines, our family has been building a unique and useful furniture restoration business. They are proud of the business they've built. They have had many successes and have persevered in many trials through prayer and hard work. Clients send their family heirlooms to us from all over the nation.
My dad is a devoted husband, father (and now grandfather!), a master craftsman and businessman. If you ask him why that is, he would tell you, “because thats how my Daddy was.” Regarding my brother, the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree. These men are best friends and they make a well rounded, incredibly hard-working team! They continue what my grandfather began over 50 years ago. To these guys; it’s a calling, not a job! This past spring, in the midst of planning the leadership transition to the next generation, the unthinkable happened, an event that threatens to destroy half a century of hard work and devotion.
While out on a delivery Dad and Bill, who have worked together for over 20 years, were jammed in traffic on the expressway when an underage drunk driver going 70+ miles an hour slammed into the tail end of the truck. Apparently, the driver never even applied his brakes. The impact was severe, and in no time at all Dad and Bill suffered life changing, traumatic brain injuries. These devoted men who were working to keep a promise made to a generation that was before, the bread winners for their families, and heirloom furniture restorers to thousands of other families were tragically injured.


It is true that often in life we give or teach something and later on we may be in a situation where we have the similar need that we had filled for someone else. I recall when I was a little girl that dad used to employ men from rehabilitation services. Usually they had cognitive impairments and could not hold a job elsewhere. Now my dad and brother have cognitive impairments and need help themselves.
By God’s grace, they miraculously retain the detailed knowledge of their craft! Their talent and ability is attributed to Great Grandpa's sacrificial teaching and my dad's and Bill's ability to work tirelessly to restore the furniture they work with in beautiful pieces of art.
Being master craftsmen is God's calling for their profession. Though this is not the only "hat", as small business owners, they wear. Some very important cognitive functions are tragically damaged, such as executive function, short term memory, time awareness as well as many more subtle life changing capacities. This has affected their ability to run the small business details of the furniture restoration shop. My dad walks with a cane sometimes because the trauma to his brain has impaired his balance. He is not able to drive a car. My dad's age will affect his ability to fully recover from the traumatic brain injury. He has been advised to limit his work to an hour or so per day. Bill has trouble with the left side of his body. His limbs and face go numb. His eye is damaged and misaligned from the trauma. He has also lost his sense of smell. He too has neuro-cognitive impairments due to the traumatic brain injury. The ability they previously had to work long hours has been taken away by a careless “super drunk” young man whose blood alcohol level was over twice the legal limit.
In the blink of an eye on spring afternoon in April the course of our family life and business changed in a way that we could have never imagined.  The truck was destroyed and even though the drunk driver was ordered by the court to make some restitution, he did not.
The crash was devastating, our family has been forever altered, but with help from our community we will perservere as we have before. We will assess the needs, work from our strengths and staff to our weakness. 
My dad and Bill are not expected to be able to work as long or as hard as they have done for so many years. However, their determination to work through this current challenge is an illustration of the commitment they share to carry out their God given responsibilities. They will need time to put in place strategic ways to compensate for the abilities they lost or that were damaged from the brain injuries. Their multiple injuries have caused physical and emotional pain yet m dad and Bill are so grateful to be alive! They have hope to regain prior abilities and learn new ways that will continue them success in business and in providing for their families.
Their world changed in an instant and is jarringly new to them now. Adjusting, has been challenging for our whole family, but they are working hard to meet with the new circumstances and are slowly gaining the ability to work and to thrive! They want to go back to work and start rebuilding right where they left off on that afternoon in April.


My dad and brother have been receiving rehabilitative therapies at St. Joseph Hospital. Skilled doctors and therapists have been helping them regain the abilities they lost due to the brain injuries. My brother is receiving vision therapy that will repair muscle damage to his eye and give him glasses that will improve his eyesight and ability to enjoy reading again. The medical community has been a blessing to our family as they have caused great improvement in my dad and Bill. They have counseled us through the sobering truth that my dad and Bill will require several years to heal from the traumatic brain injuries. They have also helped us understand that it is not clear yet that they will return to exactly as they had been prior to the accident. This is why the doctors and therapists have trained my dad and Bill to learn, create, and implement new strategies to be successful, something my dad and Bill are greatly gifted in as they have persevered through many circumstances a small business owners. They are confident that they can succeed through this trial too.
The accident has affected my mother's and sister-in-law Erin's lives greatly too. For years previously my father has been the primary caregiver of my disabled mother. Unfortunately, he is no longer able to provide that care because of multiple disabilities of his own. Since the accident, my brother's wife Erin has carried the burden of care for my brother’s and dad’s needs, while also caring for she and Bill's two small children, managing both households, and arranging my family's medical care. She has done all this while also having a debilitating spinal condition for which she has just undergone her second surgery in hope that she will regain the strength she needs to continue to be strong for her family.



To say that things are difficult financially at home and at work, is an understatement. The generosity from our closest friends has been an answer to prayer and a real life saver in keeping us going since April. Our needs at this time are long term, 36 to 48 months. Even though the diminished capacity will be life long, these next many months are critical in helping Bill to establish the business success again and for John to advise and support Bill as they rebuild what was weakened since the accident in April. We believe it will take 3 to 4 years to fill the gaps and get back on track.
If not for our track record we could not ask in good conscience for such assistance. We are a hard working principled family. We believe a good day's work will bring success but there are some problems that a good day's work just won't cover, no matter how hard one strives when there is such a disability. Yet we do believe this disability can be overcome and that is why we are asking our community for support.
Our family enjoys a reputation in the community of helping families resurrect their heirlooms that they thought were lost forever. Our name is known for quality workmanship and integrity in our craft. Our clients are amazed when we return a distant relatives broken down ugly furniture as beautiful works of art. They often tear up when they see their family heirlooms restored to their former glory.
We are honest people who are suffering from a foolish young man’s choice to get drunk. We have hope that my dad and Bill will recover well so that Dad can continue as the family patriarch and play an advisory role in the family business as Bill provides for his young family again. Our desire as a family is that the company will thrive for another 50 years.




The money raised will be used to provide immediate relief to the Verhines family. It will go toward daily living expenses for Bill and Erin's young family with small children, as the men work to regain the cognitive and motor control required to return to work and carry on the family legacy. It will also help with basic business expenses so we can keep the doors open and the lights on. It will allow time for therapy and recovery, so we can continue the tradition of making furniture beautiful and teach the fourth generation the fine art of furniture restoration.
Our auto insurance has been minimally beneficial in repairing the damage to our family, and it doesn't even come close to the amount of need we have. There is a great need for a truck. The vehicle will be used for work, but also for family transportation, as the two families are sharing one compact car right now. The funds raised here will support my dad and Bill as they fight to keep the 52 year old family business.

My dad talks of the early days of the company and about what Grandpa shared as they traveled on their antique buying trips all over the lower 48 including parts of Canada and Mexico. Said Grandpa, “Soon this business will be yours, your children’s and your grandchildren’s after that." Though grandpa passed on back in 1996 these stories remind us what our attitude regarding our family and business aught to be. My dad and Bill have passionately worked hard, and their dream of passing the business to the fourth generation of Verhines’ is within reach. They desire their children to have the inheritance of this legacy. 




This tragedy has left the men lamed but not crippled. They may never fully recover, but will be able to persevere with help. My dad and brother are hardworking generous people. They've worked endless days to take care of their families only to fall into terrible circumstances. Your generosity brings HOPE to a dire situation. It brings the hope that this tragic accident does not have to rob them or their children of a bright, happy, and successful future.

If you'd like to read more about our family business and the legacy my grandfather started, please visit the GRAMCO site .


(Family photo taken 2 weeks before the accident)