Building a healthy home

There are few men who can say they’ve worked harder in their lives than Dan Wilson. Growing up in a tough, low-income neighborhood, Dan learned early that there were no shortcuts in life—anything worth having he must earn himself.

He never depended on assistance from others; he had witnessed more than his share of empty promises and broken hearts.

So it’s not surprising that, when things began to go wrong in his family’s mobile home, Dan handled the repairs himself.

“Just a month after we moved in, a faulty outlet started one of the walls on fire,” explained Dan. “That was the first in a series of problems.”

During the course of four years, the Wilsons lost their heat in the dead of winter, had a hole put in their roof by a falling tree, learned their water was contaminated with uranium, and were forced to rewire parts of the house. Being a skilled and resourceful man, Dan was able to make the repairs. Soon Dan and Lisa began to notice that two of their children seemed to get sick more often than normal, and the family always seemed to be breaking out in rashes. One day, Dan found the cause.

“Mold,” he said. “Our walls were full of it. I sent Lisa and the kids away for the weekend and got to work.”

Although Dan took precautions, he fell sick after the weekend and headed to the emergency room. One of Dan’s lungs had completely collapsed; the other had lost 50% of its capacity.

“It’s hard for me to accept help,” Dan confided. “But after that incident, Lisa said we needed to get our kids out of there. She applied to Habitat.”

“The letter from Habitat was the best Christmas gift anyone could give us,” said Dan. “It changed our lives.”

During the ensuing months, the Wilsons enjoyed working on their new house with Habitat volunteers. They met their neighbors, became committed to their new community and began planning their future.

Jacob, who is four, can’t wait to roll in their grass.

Ashley, 10, is envisioning her own desk, where she can study in peace. “My brothers annoy me sometimes,” she admitted.

And Dan and Lisa look forward to saving for their children’s education.

“This experience changed me,” said Dan. “Lisa had so much faith during this process and I was such a cynic. I didn’t believe anyone would ever help us simply out of the kindness of their hearts. But they have. The world looks like such a different place. Now Lisa’s not the only one in the family with faith."