APPOMATTOX, Va. (BP) – Grover Hall’s childhood home outside Appomattox had seen him through 72 years of life. It’s where he lived as he drove big rigs for decades until an illness snatched his keys 20 years ago.
One early morning in April, a fire started in the chimney, raced through the home and didn’t stop until firefighters quenched the flames.
“It ain’t nothing hardly left,” Hall described his home to Baptist Press.
A few weeks ago, Hall’s niece in Isle of Wight County, Va., began contacting churches around Appomattox for help. Could anyone rebuild her uncle’s home?
Enter Herbert Hamlett, an 80-year-old Evergreen resident and member of Liberty Baptist Church who’s never built a home before, but enjoys working with his hands.
The two men met, surveyed their options and decided on a 384-square-foot tiny home, Hamlett told Baptist Press.
“You see a lot of these tiny homes on TV, so I’d been interested in doing one for a while,” Hamlett told Baptist Press. “I checked with the building inspector and found out what I had to do.”
Hamlett, with the help of volunteers from several area churches, will begin with a prefabricated 12-by-32 foot A-line roof shed that the manufacturers have agreed to cut doors into. After delivery, Hamlett and other volunteers will cut openings for windows and partition a bedroom and bathroom.
“And all we have to do is finish it on the inside. Insulate it, partition it off, drywall, do the plumbing, electrical work, and then get the appliances in,” Hamlett said. “I’ve never done anything like this. This is the first time. But usually when you run into problems, there’s someone around who can show you or tell you what needs to be done.
“It doesn’t sound too difficult, so we’ll play it by ear and see where God takes us.”
He’s sent letters to about a dozen churches seeking volunteers to help with Hall’s home.
“I’m not doing it as a church project,” he said. “It’s just a community project, but our church is involved in it, because that’s where all the donations are being sent. Our church is doing that for us. And then they’ll distribute it out to pay the bills as they get the invoices.”
Hall has lived with a friend since the fire. Hamlett has arranged for the ruins of the home to be cleared and a concrete slab to be placed to anchor the new home.
Hamlett estimates he’s on track to have the $10,000 needed to order the shed by the end of September, but cites a “conservative estimate” of $20,000 needed to complete the home’s construction.
Hall provided three ways to support the project:
- Give to Compassion Ministry at Libertybyonline.org and add Grover Hall in the Memo line;
- Text LBCAPPO to 73256, select Compassion Ministry and add Grover Hall in the Memo Line;
- Mail a check to Liberty Baptist Church, 1709 Church St., Appomattox, Va., 24522.
Hamlett retired in 2005 from a 38-year career at a naval nuclear plant, and enjoys spending his time volunteering to help people. At Liberty Baptist, he’s active in the compassion ministry to senior adults, mostly building handicap ramps for those who can’t afford contractors, doing landscape work and whatever the residents need.
Hamlett has been a Christian since age 28 and hopes to build a friendship with Hall, who is also a Christian and a member of Red Oak Baptist Church.
With chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Hall won’t be able to help with the work. He appreciates Hamlett’s support.
“I think it was God-sent,” Hall said. God “ain’t gon’ give me but so much I can stand.”
