NADRA, Deck For A Hero® Build

November 22nd, 2016 UPDATE:

Well, the Deck for a Hero^®  project here in Atlanta is complete and it was by all measures a huge success. The homeowners, Andy and Martha Cook and children, are thrilled. Overall, this was a straightforward build, maximizing square footage for the family and offering a wide stair design with a mid-landing and 90-degree turn, something that was very important to the family.  Along with all the premium products donated for this deck build, we also were able to install an under deck system. Together, they now have almost 800 square feet of new outdoor living space!

I’m honored to have had the opportunity to lead this project and have to say thank you to everyone who was involved. Collectively, everyone who participated gave generously to make this project successful. You folks certainly made it easy and it was a lot more fun than work.

Craig Dickerson

DeckSource

November 22nd, 2016 UPDATE from Deck for a Soldier / Hero Chair:

November 16th, 2016 UPDATE:

Day one was yesterday and we demolished the old deck and set the ledger and poured some footings in preparation for today’s (Wednesday) build. Hoping to wrap it up in one day for this deserving family. Things went well. Looking forward to a good day tomorrow with a good head start. I know the family is excited as the kids peered through the windows as we were working. Looking forward to them seeing the final result.

On another note, the city of Peachtree Corners is pretty excited and will have their PR person there and will be taking pictures and publishing something on their community news outlets. Good exposure for NADRA.

-Craig Dickerson, Deck Source

November 8th, 2016 UPDATE:

NADRA Family,

NADRA Southeast Regions Deck For A Hero^®  build is just one week away.  We wanted to take this time to invite all members to participate in this great cause.  We have a great family that needs and deserves a safe and fun outdoor living space. Feel free to contact Joey Matthews with any and all questions. The Cook family story is below.

We are still working on lunch for build day, if you would like to contribute please fill out the official pledge form found here.

Teardown Day:

Monday 11-14-16

Build Day:

Wednesday 11-16-16

Address: Peachtree Corners, Ga 30092

Contact Joey for complete address. Contact: Joey Matthews, 678-478-1637

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October 26th, 2016 UPDATE:

NADRA’s Deck for a Soldier^® program is proud to announce its’ latest endeavor with an all new Deck for a Hero^® build in Georgia! The recipients are a family who had three biological children and adopted two more children. They have just recently adopted five more children who lost their parents and their church was planning to send them to three separate homes. These kind people, who run a non-profit organization to help Orphan and Foster children, could not find it in their heart to allow this to happen. Please help NADRA build a fairly basic deck and stairway which will allow these ten children and parents some additional outdoor space.

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Meet the Cook Family

They are a family of ten – 7 adopted and 3 biological.  Andy and Martha are the parents and several years ago Andy left his job of teaching and coaching to head up a Non-Profit Ministry called Promise 686.  He has devoted his life to helping meet the needs of Orphans and Foster children. He and Martha have a God directed heart toward this ministry that they exhibit in their work and at home.  Late last year they adopted 5 beautiful children to add to the 5 they already had.  I’ll let Martha’s sentiments from her family Blog of November 2015 tell you what that was like for them:

Typically when a family like this crosses our path through Promise686, we share with many others and watch it unfold for various people, but this one in particular did not keep going. They are 17(girl), 14 (girl), 12 (boy), 10(boy), and 2(boy). When we learned of them, their mother was dying of cancer, and their community church had a plan in place for these children to go to three different homes. The mother wanted her children to stay together but after looking for a family for them, she knew as she passed away that there were a few families who were willing to take them, but there wasn’t one where it would work to keep them all together daily. As you can imagine, for us having five children already, the story resonated, especially imagining if I died, and then picturing all of our children being split into various homes. We also imagined what it would be like for them to be separated from the 2 year old that they have helped care for the last two years while their mother was so sick. Their mom passed away six weeks ago and the children are being cared for by two great families within their church as of today. The decision was made on Monday for them to all come to our home in two weeks and for the 2 year old to come on Sunday…….

Our next step is to get our home ready for these children. Also, we’ll be figuring out the short term legal details of guardianship along with the long term adoption process. There’s a lot that has to happen with time.

We invite you to partner with us in any way you feel led. We could not say yes to a life altering decision such as this, without knowing we have people like you, layer upon layer behind us. It feels like an army to us where we know that when we are need, you all are right behind us holding us up.

The Cook family has experienced a tremendous blessing throughout the last year and with God’s help they are all beginning a lifetime of becoming a family.  Their needs on a daily basis are many.  But one need that we can help them with is a new Deck.  Their old one is falling apart and needs extensive repair or replacing.  I am hopeful that we as NADRA can come alongside them and offer a Deck for A Hero.