WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: Christmas Comes Early for One Homeowner

Christmas Comes Early for One Homeowner

By Julie Straw
Julie@wlbt.net

It's Christmas in July. That's what 60 year-old Cora Clark calls the gift she's receiving from the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation. 

Cora Clark's home on Idlewild Street needed help.  The ceiling started to cave in, the floor under the kitchen sink was rotted, and the back door would not lock.  On a fixed income she could not afford the roughly $10,000 needed for repairs.

"I just get a little check ever month.  That's the only income I have," said Clark.

So when a team of Jackson Medical Mall Foundation Staff and volunteers showed up at her door with paint, saws, and nails there was no lack of joy and surprise.  "I'm just like a child when Santa Claus comes.  I am happy.  I really am," said Clark. Clark was chosen by the foundation to be the recipient of their "Raise the Roof" renovation project.

When the workers are done Clark will have a new ceiling, a new door, a fresh coat of paint on the walls and a new future for her and her husband.  "They want to live at their own homes in their own environment to spend the rest of their lives.  We thought what better way to make them feel comfortable about being in the environment they live in then to come in and spruce up their homes," said Kelli Sharpe, the Director of Community Outreach Services for the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation.

Clark's is one of three homes in the Medical Mall district getting a make-over.  Geneva Johnson's home on Powers Avenue is being plastered and painted while she is being treated at the hospital.

"It's just like helping your grandmother.  Everybody you see is like your grandparents.  They need help.  You come in and do what you gotta do.  It makes you feel good," said Marcus Franklin the construction supervisor for the project.

For Clark the good feeling is mutual.  "I won't have to watch and see if this is fittin't to bust loose or sinking," said Clark laughing.

The Jackson Medical Mall started this initiative five years ago.  Every year it sponsors renovations for at least four homes in the Medical Mall district. 

This week volunteers will work on three homes, belonging to seniors living in the medical mall area.

The sponsors are Fountain Construction Company, Leadership Greater Jackson Class of 2007-2008, BankPlus, City of Jackson and the Wal-Mart Foundation.

In the past four years the foundation has repaired 10 homes through the "Raise the Roof" initiative.