Connie and Denis McGovern moved to Dripping Springs in 1998 when Connie’s parents bought them a manufactured home, so that they could be closer. Now, the home is falling apart and Hometown Missions is going to build them a brand new house.
For the past 15 years, Hometown Missions has been helping to provide safe and healthy living spaces for members of the community. One way Hometown Missions provides those spaces is by repairing and maintaining them.
“When we serve or when we get contacted by an individual or a business or a church that maybe knows of a family that’s struggling with something in their home, like a home repair, we'll go out and visit with that family and/or those individuals or that individual and kind of assess what’s needed,” said Chris Kelker-Newlan, the operations manager for Hometown Missions. “Sometimes it’s as simple as they just need a plumber to fix a leak. At that point, we’ll reach out to our network of plumbers and say ‘Hey, who’s got time?’” According to Kelker-Newlan, there is also the “Home in a Month” program.
When it’s possible, the organization helps source mobile manufactured homes for families whose homes cannot be repaired, depending on the city and county laws.
Otherwise, a brick-and-mortar or foundation-and-frame home is created.
“There are some times in the history of the organization where we get introduced to a family that’s living in a situation that honestly, no one should be living in the house, it’s just so old,” said Kelker-Newlan. “You can’t just fix one thing. There’s too many things to fix [and] it’s very unsafe; it’s very unhealthy.”
The living situation described by the operations manager is similar to that of Connie and Denis, as their home is currently falling apart, with holes in the ceiling and floor.
When Connie’s parents purchased the house, they were told by the seller that the house was manufactured in 1985, though, she later found that it was from 1969, making it approximately 56 years old today.
“The roof is falling in; the floor is falling through. It’s just disintegrating,” said Connie. “So, as a last kind of a hope, I contacted the Hometown Missions people and asked them if they would be able to help me in any way … They came back a couple of months ago and told us that they were able to help us out and build us a new home; a two-bedroom, one and a half bath home on the same site.”
Hometown Missions will begin tearing down the McGovern’s current home April 5 and construction is estimated to be finished by May 23.
“[My granddaughter] is just, she's just my everything [and] trying to walk on that floor, it's all uneven. It's just, it's really bad,” said Connie. “I'm so happy that she can come over to my house and hang out [in a] safe environment.”
The organization does accept donations to help with the building and, with only one full time employee, Hometown Missions is primarily volunteer run.
There are specialists who help with their specific expertise, such as plumbing and electricity, but most of the hands-on work comes from volunteers who donate their time on the weekends to build and repair these places in need.
“The best way to [support the organization] is time, talent, treasure,” said Kelker-Newlan. “Funds are always great. We are an organization that relies heavily on funds to get things done, but we also need volunteers. Volunteers are huge. We have big project days coming up on Connie's house, there'll be days where we're going to need 20 plus people out there to get things done because it takes a lot of people to build a house in a month.”
To support the building of the new house, Hudson’s on Mercer, one of three places Connie works, put on a fundraiser for both Hometown Missions and the McGovern family, full of food, drinks and live music Sunday, March 2.
At the fundraiser, $24,000 was raised for the McGovern family and Hometown Missions combined.
Funds can still be donated toward the McGovern’s new home, said Kelker-Newlan. To donate, visit www.hometownmissions.org/donate and add “for the McGovern family” in the notes section.
“We appreciate all the love and support for our family and our friends and I'm truly honored to live in Dripping Springs, the best people in all of Texas,” said Connie.
For more information about Hometown Missions or to donate, visit www. hometownmissions.org.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Hometown Missions, based in Dripping Springs, has a program where they build “a house in a month.” This is available to families and individuals who are unable to live where they are currently.
PHOTO BY MIKEY BROWN Hudson’s on Mercer, located at 381 Mercer St. in Dripping Springs, held a fundraiser to benefit both the McGovern family and Hometown Missions, offering food, drinks, a silent auction and live music. Pictured, one of many local music groups, the Kyle Sisters, play live for the fundraiser.
