We tend to think that veterans do a lot for our country. Even with that in mind, we often don’t do enough to thank them for their service. But when one elderly veteran began to need some extra help, his Washington state community rallied around him and improved his quality of life with some very inspiring acts of service.
Lewis Harris was living alone in a run-down house.
The veteran, who is in his 80s, had been living alone for a while. He was beginning to feel isolated, but as he says, “I definitely don’t want to be a burden to anyone.” That inclination may have kept him from reaching out to his community sooner, but his house was becoming hard to live in.
He was living alone in Redmond, Washington and his house was in a state of deterioration. Although he was getting by, things started to get worse for him.
Harris’s health began to decline, and he realized he needed help.
As happens to pretty much all of us, at a certain point, Lewis Harris realized he couldn’t take do everything on his own. Although he had served in the military and accomplished a lot in his life, he needed to begin to ask for help.
So he did, starting with asking a grocery store clerk for help getting home. He had been running errands, and realized he couldn’t remember how to get back home. When the clerk called the police for help, the community began to see that Harris needed some assistance.
The community in Redmond, Washington started to understand that Harris needed some help.
Once the officer, Officer Nazariya, showed up at the store, Harris was able to talk about his situation a little bit and explain that he just needed some help.
Harris was saying that he could not remember how to get home, and that he couldn’t see. The officer offered to bring him home. From this moment, it became clear to the officer that Lewis Harris was a community member in need of a helping hand.
The police officer and his wife began to rally around him.
Once Officer Nazariya saw the state of Lewis Harris’ decrepit house, he knew he had to call in reinforcements. He didn’t want to leave Harris living in that home. Fortunately, Officer Nazariya is married to an interior decorator.
He managed to get her to come over to Harris’ house, and the married couple embarked on a complete house remodel.
Eventually, more people in town began to pitch in.
Once other businesses heard Harris’ story, they donated a bunch of supplies to help create his dream house. Additionally, they also sent in more people to help with the physical labor.
With the efforts of most of the town pitching in, Lewis Harris’ house was transformed into his dream building. The renovated house transformed his living quarters into a space that honored his life and military service, with a wall that worked as a gallery of his service. He also got some dream-looking quartz countertops that will hold up for a long time.
Looking at his dream home, Lewis Harris was touched.
He did not see many of the transformations taking place over time, so when he finally got the house revealed to him, he couldn’t help but feel some tears coming on. This kindness also renewed his commitment to being the best person he can be.
He said to King5 News:
“It almost brought me to tears, okay. I had a couple of drops there, it really touched my heart and my soul…There’s nothing I can do to ever repay them other than just be a good American and try to help other people.”
Watch the full video about the community joining together below!
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