Texas community steps up to rebuild family's home destroyed in storms

A group of Bellville residents donated their time and money to help rebuild a family's home.

BELLVILLE, Texas — Down a tiny street in the small community of Bellville, you'll find a hive of caring people buzzing around a home that's stood for decades.

“We moved in 1966 when I was a boy,” Eddie Mays told KHOU11 News.

Eddie Mays said he and his wife, Earnestine, moved back into the house after his parents passed in 1995.

“It means everything to me,” Mays said.

While love still lived inside their home, about 15 years ago, storms destroyed its exterior -- knocking a large hole through the roof.

“We didn't have no money because we're on fixed income. One check and we had to survive,” Mays said.

So a tarp went up, but every time it rained, water poured in and mold and mildew soon took over the house.

“I was going to stay in there until it fell down,” Mays said.

Then, this may, when the derecho blew through, things got even worse -- that's until a passionate worker bee named Kristen Daves arrived.

“It was so hot in there, it broke my heart ... They had a cooler, they didn't have a refrigerator. They had electricity in only one bedroom,” Daves told KHOU 11 News.

Daves made a few calls and a few posts online, and with the help of Shawn Parks, soon she had all of Bellville buzzing. Contractors and roofers showed up, tearing down the rotten, old structure and rebuilding the entire home for free.

But that wasn't all.

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“Their whole house will be furnished, down to silverware,” Parks said.

The amazing group of workers plans to finish the work next week so King Eddie and Queen Earnestine, as they are now known around Bellville, can return to the hive they love so much.

“I thought nobody cared,” Eddie Mays said.

“Y'all got my heart. I love y'all. Thank God for y'all,” Earnestine Mays said.

If you would like to join the effort to help Eddie and Earnestine, you can do so through this GoFundMe link.