GLIDE — A family plagued by illness and poverty and forced to camp all summer got a piece of the American dream Wednesday.
Organized by NeighborWorks Umpqua, workers delivered a three-bedroom, two-bath manufactured home to a rural piece of property on Standley Road southeast of Glide.
“My heart’s just beating, I’m so happy. To have a house is just amazing,” said 41-year-old Dawn Ebright, who will live in the home with her husband, William Bernard, and their three children.
The family applied for and received the house through a program funded by NeighborWorks America and the NeighborWorks Umpqua’s revolving loan fund. They will be liable to repay a $60,000 no-interest loan if they sell the house.
“They’ll pay back the full cost of putting in the manufactured home and paying for the home and everything, but they won’t do it until they sell the home,” said Stacey Howard, family construction manager with NeighborWorks Umpqua.
The house was built in the Eastern Oregon town of Hermiston by Community Frameworks, a Spokane, Wash., company that manufactures low-cost housing.
The family was staying in a 1971 singlewide trailer until the conditions became unlivable. The family has been camping on their property since early June.
“Pre-1976 trailers are not good. They have mold and bad insulation. Our goal is to get them completely off the landscape,” Howard said.
Many local companies have helped with different aspects of the project, including excavations, septic work and electricity.
“It takes a lot of man hours to pull this off,” Howard said.
The organization plans to install two other houses this summer. The others will be in Bandon and the Oakland area.
The family has struggled with health problems.
Daughter Lacey, 6, was born with severe kidney problems and has been in and out of the hospital her whole life. She was recently diagnosed with tumors in her bladder, Dawn Ebright said.
Brian Ebright, 19, has a rare form of terminal brain cancer, she said. He was diagnosed at 15 and has gone through 44 radiation treatments and 18 months of chemotherapy.
Their middle child, Yvette, 12, is completely healthy.
Both parents are unable to hold jobs because of constant hospital visits, Dawn Ebright said.
Bernard, 47, said he is grateful to the community and everyone involved who made the house possible.
“This is a huge step to putting our lives back together,” he said.
Dawn Ebright said splitting up the family is her biggest fear and that she believes this house will keep them together
“My kids really deserve this,” she said. “They have been through hell and back.”
• You can reach reporter Betsy Swanback at 541-957-4208 or email at bswanback@nrtoday.com
My kids really deserve this. They have been through hell and back. \n
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Dawn Ebright\n
mother
