Cave City home improvement crew gives family extreme makeover

By Julie M. Fidler
CORD -- Between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Will and Earlene Sterling of Cave City took on a major home improvement project for another family … for free. And, they say they’d do it again “in a heartbeat.”

Dennis and Darlene Kellems of Cord called Sterling Home Solutions last October to get a bid on getting their home repaired. The doublewide mobile home had parts of the floor falling through in places. Meanwhile, the Kellemses’ young daughter, Cassondra, was dealing with a lot of medical issues, including dialysis. Darlene and Cassondra moved in temporarily with a family member, separating them their husband and father.

A couple of weeks after Darlene had called the Sterlings’ business, Arkansas Children’s Hospital contacted them about the project, for which some funding had been donated.

“We saw a family in need, and decided to do our part,” said Mrs. Sterling. “We couldn’t bear to think of a family being split apart because of this situation.”

“This is the first time we have ever reached out in this manor,” she said.

The floors of the Kellems home needed to be repaired due to water damage.

But, the Sterlings and their crew didn’t want to leave it at that.

“After learning about the struggle this family had been through, we wanted to do more than just fix the floors,” Mrs. Sterling said. “We wanted to give them a new home.”

The crew, all working for free, repaired all of the floors, installed new carpet and laminate flooring throughout the entire home, replaced all of the lighting, installed new smoke alarms, painted the entire home (walls and ceilings), repaired the dishwasher and installed new mini-blinds and curtains.

Mrs. Sterling did all the decorating. “We built Cassondra’s room to match her personality.” The teen-ager loves country music. Will Sterling designed a bed frame in the shape of a guitar. He lined the wall at the ceiling with sparkly compact discs, lit by track lighting. The icing on the cake for Cassondra is a framed, autographed picture of the country group, The Dixie Chicks.

Members of The Home Depot’s Team Depot donated the paint and painting supplies. They also sent out a crew to help with some of the final cleaning. Furniture-4-Less donated a new bed for Cassondra. Sterling Home Solutions crew members Nick Ring, Clay Smith and Robbie Dye all worked for free.

“Nick Ring is our floater,” said Mrs. Sterling. “He can do most anything. Clay Smith is our painter, and Robbie Dye is our framer and roofer.”

The project took the group five days (61 hours). The result was a completely remodeled home.

“We got a warm heart just knowing this family is all under one roof again,” Mrs. Sterling said. “They were excited and emotional. They were expecting new floors, not a new home.”

“Will and I received such a blessing during this project,” she said. “It warmed our hearts to be part of a new beginning for such a deserving family.”

She thanked Eye On Independence Magazine: “Thank you for sharing their story with your readers. Our hope is that God continues to bless the Kellems family.”