AUSTIN, Texas – Volunteer staff and members of Amplify CU spent last weekend renovating a local home as part of the local newspaper’s annual Season for Caring campaign, which helps 10 featured families and hundreds of others served by local nonprofit agencies.
Amplify invested more than $11,000 in the renovations at the Jackson home, including materials and the time spent working on the home from the 16 employees who volunteered. Amplify will invest more once the bathroom and water heater projects begin.
Gone are the broken stove, the chipped paint on the walls, and the holes in the ceiling that exposed the house to the outside. Now, the credit union said, the house has fresh paint inside, new ceiling fans, revamped electrical wiring and new doors, curtains, furniture and energy-efficient appliances.
The Jackson’s are primary caregivers for a great-grandson, 11-year-old Kevon Walton. Seventy-one-year-old Lloyd Jackson walks with a cane or uses a scooter after having a stroke 40 years ago. Part of the family's daily struggle was living in their home in East Austin, which was in need of many repairs.
After hearing about how Lloyd Jackson and his wife struggle to provide a good life for Kevon on a meager fixed income, employees from all levels at Austin-based Amplify came together over the weekend to give their home a much-needed overhaul.
During the renovation, the family was given a stay in a hotel and got to order room service for the first time in their lives.
But the best surprise was waiting for Kevon, a Pop Warner football player and University of Texas fan. His room now has burnt orange paint, two beds with Texas Longhorn bedding, and a football and framed poster signed by Texas coach Mack Brown.
