Doug Fair, Habitat for Humanity of Collin County Philanthropy Director, recalled arriving with Bob Pirtle, Habitat’s Home Repair Construction Manager at the time, at the home and seeing the state of disrepair.
"The fire department said it was an electrical fire that started in his bedroom and then moved into other parts of the house. When the fire department put the fire out, they had to poke holes and tear down every ceiling and wall in his house," Fair said. "It was just devastating when Bob and I walked out there and caught our breath. We looked at each other and were both admittedly in tears."
The situation was gut-wrenching, and though Habitat for Humanity of Collin County did not take on projects like this at the time, the team knew they needed to help this veteran.
"We were not set up organizationally to take on a home repair project like that. Our past home repair projects were literally painting and sprucing up someone's exterior of the house, maybe trimming their bushes. Home repair projects were not heavily funded and we really didn't have a concept of how to approach a project of this size and cost," Fair said.
To help Ball, Habitat reached out to everyone they could and applied for grants to fund the home repair project. As a result, a veteran home grant from Habitat International and a Wells Fargo grant were awarded to get the project started.
When word spread throughout the community that a local veteran was in need, help began to pour in.
"We had so many different organizations in McKinney that came in and helped. Churches, organizations and groups have stepped up to ask what we needed. We've been blessed to have them come up and say, 'We'll bring whatever you need,'" Fair said.
"Once we started the project, we found out quickly that we were just band-aiding a house that was about to fall down. We pretty much took it down to do the foundation, did extensive foundation repair, then basically built the new house," Fair said.
It took many organizations coming together to save Jimmy Ball. For example, Anchor Church donated food to Ball as part of the local community's response. Hands and Hammers, a group of volunteers from First United Methodist Church of McKinney, were a major resource who volunteered weeks of service to help rebuild the house.
"SRS Roofing is very much behind veterans and when they heard that this was a local veteran they stepped up to help. SRS's Raise the Roof Foundation gave funding and materials to replace the roof. They've been tremendous partners for all of Habitat," Fair said.
Jimmy Ball is a private person. Initially he was cautious about getting to know the volunteers, but over several weeks a friendship developed. Ball now brings doughnuts to volunteers and chats with them, a transformation Fair witnessed.
"It was a six-month process of having him re-engage with people. I think he lost confidence in everything. Finally, one day he opened up and said, 'As you can tell by looking at what you guys saw when you came, I had given up on life,' and that's when he told us about [losing two wives to cancer] and how he doesn't sleep at night," Fair said. "He was struggling, so we put the house back together and now he can sleep at night."
The Habitat team did more than transform Ball's home—they helped transform his whole life.
"This is why we do what we do. It's way more than repairing a house. It's transformational, and I think Jimmy is the poster child of what this home repair program can do," Fair said.
As a result of the “Jimmy Ball effect,” the organization can now handle more extensive home repair projects for local veterans. "No one should live in this condition. We're not heroes, we just did the right thing."
"There's no way we could have done it by ourselves. We needed the help and the help came, and we're really thankful for that," Habitat Marketing Specialist Joe Overley said.
To learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Collin County, visit their website or call 972- 542-5300.
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