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When Illinois Times first wrote about Dorothy Milford [see “The way
back home,” April 5, 2007], this widow raising six grandchildren ages
5 to 13 had already been forced to move twice in less than two years
— first due to lead paint found in her own home, and then because of
lead paint found in the home she rented. Milford’s youngest
grandchildren had been diagnosed with lead poisoning. Recently, Milford was
forced to relocate her brood once more, this time because the second house
she rented is being torn down to make way for Calvary Baptist’s
25-home Nehemiah project. Despite all these moves, Milford,
age 70, is looking forward to transplanting her family yet again within a
few months, this time back into her own South 16th Street home.
Since April, a team of volunteers
headed by members of Hope Evangelical Church and Bobbie Hahn’s Loving
God Out Loud ministry has been working almost every Saturday to rehab
Milford’s house. Nick Stojakovich, of Hope Church, calls the project
a “labor of love,” completely reliant upon volunteers, gifts,
and donations. “We had 25 people show up last Saturday! I was
so excited,” he says, listing Cherry Hills Baptist, Waverly First
Baptist, Adamski Construction, contractor Kurt Daugherty, and Honey-Do
Construction among recent charitable carpenters. “It was really something to behold: Three
churches coming together to bless a widow and her six grandchildren,”
he says Milford chose a light gray siding, which the team
coordinated with a green roof and white trim. The exterior is finished
— new siding, soffit, fascia, roof, doors, windows, and a new
foundation. Stojakovich says the volunteers are now concentrating on the
interior, adding sub-flooring, framing walls, and reconstructing doors. He
says he hopes volunteers will rejoin the effort Dec. 1 and Dec. 8. Milford knows the house won’t be done quite in
time for her to take the grandkids “home” for the holidays, but
she isn’t complaining. “Whenever it’s done, I will be
very happy and grateful to all the people,” she says.
Contact Dusty Rhodes at drhodes@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2007.
