When a woman didn’t even realize how much help she needed, it was up to her community to step in and help her out.
For Faye Abbas, having someone else notice the problem in her living situation was the first step.
From there, a whole community began to work to make her life better.
She’s been shocked at their kindness, and her neighbors have been surprised to learn how much it helped them all to help her out.
Her neighbor was the first to realize how dilapidated her house was.
Because Faye is blind, she was unable to take note of how the state of her house had deteriorated.
She had lived there for over thirty years, so there was bound to be some wear and tear.
But without really being able to see it, she didn’t know how bad it had gotten.
It was her neighbor Paul Bridge who first really noticed that something was wrong with her house.
He then rounded up people in their community to come together and get started on fixing her home.
The community really came together to make this happen.
Over a dozen people from Faye’s neighborhood decided to pitch in to help her out.
To cover the costs of the project, one of her neighbors even started a GoFundMe.
Neighbors and people moved by her story from far away are all coming together to contribute what they can to the renovation.
On the page, they explain:
“Faye Abbas is an elderly blind woman who has lived in the Beamer Park neighborhood since 1992. She has taught singing and piano lessons for over 30 years out of her house.
She is a caring, selfless, friendly lady. She has a fixed income and survives by giving private music/singing lessons out of her house.”
The kindness has had a big impact on Faye. She tells CBS Sacramento:
“I’ve just been stunned. It’s like I all of a sudden have a whole family here.”
The renovation is going to be a very big project.
The team has already had to replace the panel and siding on her house.
There’s been a lot of wear and tear over the years and the skeleton of her house is quite shaky.
This home remodel is more than a cosmetic enhancement, although it will also come with a fresh coat of paint in colors Faye loves.
The renovations are going to include some very sweet touches.
Faye is so grateful for the work her neighbors are putting in, and her neighbors want this house to be her dream.
So, when they asked her what special details she might want to make the place feel like home, she requested something very sweet: a pink front door.
She has always wanted a pink front door and she thinks it’s the perfect touch to her home remodeling.
She hopes it will create a totally different atmosphere and bring in a touch of lightness to the space.
“I’m thrilled about those pink doors. I really like pink. I can’t see it, but I like the feel of it. Colors have feel.”
Helping her catalyzed the community to become closer.
One neighbor, Stuart Khan, tells CBS Sacramento:
“It renews my hope because these last two years there was a lot of separation a lot of divisiveness not only in our country but in our neighborhood. We just didn’t know each other.”
The group is also going to throw a barbeque after the project is complete to celebrate their work and their community.