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A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP J
ust days before she was due to give birth to her son, Tina’s home was destroyed by fire.
Tina, Robert, and their children were not at home when the fire started, thankfully, but they lost everything they owned. Prior to the fire, Robert had been severely injured at his job, resulting in multiple surgeries and long-term neck and back pain. The family, who had worked tirelessly to prepare their house for the arrival of the new baby, was left with few options. The soon-to-be family of eight moved into a small two-room house in dire need of repairs, but this was not going to be a longterm solution.
“...when you don’t have much income, you’ve got to go wherever you can.” Tina recalls the situation. “After our house burned down, we moved down here and rented this little house. We needed to be close enough to care for our
animals and to be near Robert’s mother, who was sick and needed care. All six kids shared a room. They all had their own beds, but they were crowded into the one room. They didn’t like it, but when you don’t have much income, you’ve got to go wherever you can.” In the midst of their struggle, Robert Jr. was born. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and the two-room house presented little space for his physical therapy. Tina, familiar with Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) from her time at Camp Shawnee as a child, applied for a room addition through the Housing Program. She was desperate to take care of her family and they were running out of options. Robert, still recovering from his injuries, struggled to keep the children fed by taking on odd jobs whenever and wherever he was able. Tina, Robert, and their six children held out faith that their luck would eventually change. Around this same period, Jamie Conley was just settling into her new position as a CAP Housing Program caseworker when a unique opportunity presented itself. “There was a group, Civil Engineers of Southwest Ohio (CESO), that contacted the Housing Program requesting that we submit eight stories of FALL / WINTER 2016 | christianapp.org/MtSpiritGive
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