A 22-year-old young man raising his little brother has received a priceless gift from the community.
Jaylan Gray has been raising his 12-year-old brother, Julian in Katy, Texas after their parents and grandfather passed away. And it hasn’t been easy. But he promised his mother that he would take care of his brother.
Taking on a big responsibility at such a young age has not been the easiest for Jaylan. And it’s specially made difficult because of the condition of their house.
Their family home was badly hit during Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and it hasn’t really recovered, especially since they experience a lot of winter storms since then.
“At one point, I was just done with the house,” Jaylan admitted. “I was ready to sell it at one point. It was too much weight on my shoulders. I couldn’t do it.”
And who could blame him?
He’s only 22 and he’s not financially prepared to take on such a big role.
Luckily for the two brothers, there is an organization in Katy, Texas, that is prepared to help families in Texas after experiencing disasters.
Katy Responds helps those families without the funds to have their houses repaired and they’re either not eligible for government funding or there are no more funds. They rely on the generosity of the community to help these families get back on their feet.
So many families and their homes were severely impacted by Hurricane Harvey and they still have not recovered since then.
Katy Responds helps them get one step closer to their recovery by fixing their homes.
Aside from monetary donations, they also ask for volunteers to help with demolition, painting, landscaping, construction, fencing, and anything else that needed to be done in the house.
The organization has heard Jaylan and Julian’s story and wanted to repair the home they’ve lived in all of their lives.
When Katy Responds Executive Director Ron Peters saw the state of their house, he knew they needed help.
“There’s just no way they could’ve lived in it and probably would’ve never fixed it,” ED Peters said.
So many volunteers responded to help with their project.
In fact, every day, there was a new set of hands joining the other volunteers to work on the Elder project, as they called Jaylan and Julian’s house.
And they all saw firsthand how devastating the inside of the house was. Thank God for these people who volunteered their time and skills to help out this young family. Because of all the hurricanes and winter storms, there was so much mold inside the house that was going to be a health threat, if it wasn’t already.
And they didn’t just get help from individuals.
They got so much help from different partners, like World Changers, Parkway Fellowship, Mahindra Finance, Roofing Supply, Inc, CertainTEED, and Blue Ribbon Roofing, among others.
These volunteers and partners made it possible to deliver a fully-renovated home to so many families, including Jaylan and Julian Gray.
And when they revealed the house to Jaylan and Julian, they were astounded!
“I love it,” Jaylan said. “I’m speechless, way more than we asked for. Completely grateful.”
Now that their home is not a problem, for now, Jaylan can focus on raising himself and his brother.
“[I] try my best to keep him in check, make sure he doesn’t get in trouble and make sure he’s loved,” Jaylan said while holding back tears.
Watch the video below to see the Gray brother’s reaction to their new home.
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