There has certainly been a lot going on at My Sister’s House since our last update in August!
On September 23 and 24, it took about an hour to bring this fragile, but once grand, 80-year-old home down, and two days to clear and level the lot. We thank Bill Benton and his professional team from Coastal Dragline Services for taking care of this delicate job and spending two days removing everything then bringing in the sand to grade the lot.
At the same time, we were very fortunate to meet Anthony Credle, who offered to prepare the architectural drawings for the new version of My Sister’s House, in the same Craftsman-style image of the donated house.
New construction now offers us an opportunity to include features that are more compatible for our purpose as a transitional home for up to eight post-incarcerated women and the on-site staff. We are now able to plan for two full bathrooms upstairs to be shared by the four bedrooms. Downstairs, we have arranged for a small conference/computer room, the staff suite (office, full bath, overnight room), a large living room, laundry room, another full bath, and a large eat-in kitchen. Some of the features saved from the original house that will be re-purposed include three fireplace mantles and two sets of French doors for the entry hall.
Hopefully, we will receive our building permit in the coming weeks so we can begin to set the foundation and get started on construction of the new house by Thanksgiving. We certainly expect and plan to include volunteers wherever and whenever possible so we can schedule the Dedication and Opening of My Sister’s House by Thanksgiving 2022.
By Deedra Durocher on behalf of Bonita Simmons, Tried by Fire, Inc.