SHE BUILDS FOR GOOD
“I’m feeling excited. I’m feeling good. I am blessed.” –Mrs. Peggy
By Paris Lawson | Digital Content Reporter | mailbag@okcthunder.com
For a week, Mrs. Peggy’s home was the site of the third annual She Builds initiative -- a female-led campaign adopted by Rebuilding Together OKC to provide critical home repairs to women in need. Many volunteers and groups from all over Oklahoma City sacrificed their time to help. The Thunder and Love’s organizations added to that collective effort, teaming up on a sweltering Saturday to help make final repairs to the home of its 63-year-old owner. All week long, the house was a hive of activity. Saturday, that buzz continued with volunteers in blue and yellow T-shirts coming in and out of the home on the northside of Oklahoma City. Paint rollers stroked newly installed siding; shovels stabbed at new landscaping; tape went up in preparation for drywall; and smiles graced the faces of the volunteer group in anticipation for the arrival of the much-deserving homeowner who hadn’t seen her house in five days. “She Builds is an awesome opportunity to get some of the incredible women that we have with both the Love’s organization and the Thunder organization working together to help another amazing woman,” said Christine Berney, vice president of community relations with the Thunder.
And Mrs. Peggy’s story is indeed amazing.
Her home has served many different needs over the years. It has served as a daycare center, a second home for her son and granddaughter and dwelling for her three dogs, Samson, Murano and Diamond. It has also served as a site of recovery for Mrs. Peggy, who had suffered a stroke and had a couple of bouts with cancer. Reasonably, making repairs on her home was not on the forefront of her mind.
The Thunder and Love’s took this to heart as they partnered on this particular project.
“[Peggy] really exemplified taking care of others. That’s something that is part of our core values and part of our culture,” said Jenny Love Meyer, vice president of Communications at Love’s. “Being able to see what she does every single day, and then to be able to do something to help her, gave her a little bit of a leg up in terms of remodeling the house and doing something for her. It was just heartwarming for us.”
Thunder players Terrance Ferguson and Justin Patton offered some extra help with repairs thanks to their towering height and far-reaching wingspans. They painted part of the roof and installed lightbulbs and windows -- things that would require a ladder for the average-sized person but came easily for the two of them.
The anticipation mounted when the time had finally come for Mrs. Peggy to see her home for the first time in a week.
A car pulled up to the driveway and out stepped the homeowner, sporting a white T-shirt with Faith appropriately inscribed on the front. With Ferguson by her side and Patton trailing not far behind, a teary-eyed Mrs. Peggy walked the path to her new front door to the beat of the Thunder Drummers and the applause of all those whose hands had helped in the labor to make her house a home.
“People like Mrs. Peggy make the community,” Patton said. “People seeing her reaction and how she’s going to pay it forward and how we’re going to pay it forward was just great all around.”
On that day, Mrs. Peggy experienced the embrace of her community: the same community she’s given so much to. In appreciation, she received a moment of joy in return as she sat outside on her newly decorated patio with her three dogs in tow.
“It was amazing,” Ferguson said. “Seeing that she could just relax, smile, lay down and just rest and enjoy her beautiful home. It was a proud moment.”
The house that was a bustling hub of activity only hours earlier had been transformed into a peaceful home for a woman who plans to do just that -- relax.
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