Hoping to provide a, “nice, permanent place to live.” Donald wanted to keep his family safe and secure, even after he was gone. The home was small, but they could make it work. And work it did. 

 

Twenty years later, defying doctors and temptations to give-in to despair, Donald still ambles about the house, keeping his family safe and secure. Now a family of seven—Donald, his wife Mary, a thirty-something daughter, a disabled son-in-law and three grandchildren—all reside in the same 20-year-old reminder. A house that reflects Donald’s perseverance.

 

Despite the appearance of their well-kept home and a bustling three-generation household, their home has also aged with them. While odd jobs, a social security check and food stamps have allowed them to manage their monthly mortgage payment and put food on the table, they don’t have the resources to address big issues. Issues like a leaky roof.

 

Although Donald is no slacker—as of this writing, just two months earlier, he had somehow made his way to the roof and patched an on-going leak—he knew the roof problem was much bigger than their resources. “We were starting to see stains on the ceiling and getting leaks in the laundry room. And my patchwork repairs weren’t going to last.”

 

Over the past twenty years, nothing has come easy for the Sawyer family. But they are over-comers, “We are quiet people, doing the best we can. We get things done, but it takes us a long time.” Friendly, hard-working, salt-of-the-earth folks, Donald and Mary are the kind of neighbors you’d like to have over for dinner. Residents of the Swannanoa Valley for over 30-years, they embody everything locals should feel good about as a community.

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