House Fire Destroys Home, Not Heart

“There’s a fire up on the ridge,” said a voice behind the counter where
Margie Dalton was ordering a sandwich. Margie bolted out the door,
thinking“ Please, don’t let it be my house.”

Sadly, it was.                                                                                                                           

It seemed like an eternity to drive to Chestnut Ridge, a two-mile stretch of winding up-hill road. Margie smelled smoke, but prayed that beyond the final curve she would see that the fire was burning at a nearby abandoned house. Heart sick, she saw three fire trucks parked outside her white two-story family home, which was surrounded by firemen and a few neighbors.
She felt the color drain from her face.

Seeing the firemen, Margie wondered why the fire was still burning out of control. When the fire hoses finally were let loose on the home, she watched everything inside that wasn’t burned become drenched. First, she thanked God that no one was home, and then cried, “Mommy’s things!”

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Margie had cared for her mother during a decade-long bout with cancer. After her mother’s death, Margie held her mother’s possessions dear, feeling that as long as some of her things were still around, she wasn’t completely gone. Everything of her mother’s was burned. Margie’s son, Joshua, and grandchild, Faith, lost all their possessions, too—sneakers and CDs, jeans and jewelry, school notebooks and wall posters, favorite toys and keepsakes. Also lost were years of Margie’s painstaking efforts on family genealogical records. The house and property had been in Margie’s family for more than 100 years. As a result of old inheritance laws, the house was considered uninsurable, leaving the Dalton family with no reserve.

“I love living on the ridge,” says Margie. “It’s home.” Her hope now is to be able to go home again, which she vows will happen. “I trusted God through everything, from the minute I saw the house was on fire.” Margie says that God has always looked after her and her family, and He would continue to take care of them.


World Vision Steps In
The Dalton’s home is across the street from Peoples Chapel, just down the road from the World Vision office on Chestnut Ridge. Soon after the fire, World Vision staff members began conversations on how we might help this family recover. For several years, Dave Leach and his team have supplied building materials for families who have been  recovering from fires. Our missions program has been growing its vision to see new houses built, going beyond bandaging tired trailers.

Partner churches from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania; the Stanwich Congregational Church of Greenwich, Connecticut; and Immanuel Baptist Church of Gurnee, Illinois, all volunteered their labor. By faith, we started plans for a new house for Margie and her family.

The family cleared a new piece of ground on their property and work began.

The family joined our Neighbor to Neighbor Exchange TimeBank, committing to give 100 hours of service within the community in exchange for a new house. Meanwhile, World Vision started raising money for the home.

Groundbreaking began during the World Vision Board of Directors meeting and Appalachian site visit on May 5, 2008. Board member John Huffman, and Earl Godwin, husband of board member Joyce Godwin, joined with World Vision
staff members Rahsaan Graham, David Derr, Dean Hazelton and others to lend a hand with hammers and nails—eventually raising the first wall.

The home now stands as a symbol of people caring for people, as one family moves from the ashes of loss to a new home in which to start again. Says Margie, “This is like a dream. I am so happy and thankful to God and to World Vision.”

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