Staunton family back in their forever home after fire destroys house in Jan

STAUNTON, Va. (WHSV) - A Staunton family is back home after being displaced since Jan due to a fire.

“You’re just like it’s gone, my house is gone ... just shock -- it was awful,” Dawn Davis, who lived in the home said.

Over the last seven days, more than 70 people showed up to help renovate Dawn and Jerry Davis’ home.

“I kept seeing the house like I saw it right before the fire happened so I had no ... I couldn’t quite grasp what it was gonna look like afterwards,” Davis said.

After the fire on Jan 10 destroyed the Davis’s house, Dawn was determined to not lose the place she has called home for many years.

“Baking soda will get the smoke smell out, it’ll be okay,” she said. “Meanwhile you don’t have no electricity no nothing.”

That’s until a coworker told Davis about a Staunton group helping people rebuild their homes.

“This came in around $70,000 so I said I’ll make some calls, we work with a lot of contractors and I think we’re under $20,000 for the budget,” David D’Arcy, president of Spirit Homes said.

The Davis’s home was part of the “Spirit Week” for Spirit Homes in Staunton.

They donated $10,000 and in a week’s time made their home brand new.

“An entire new kitchen, new bathroom, new insulation ... a lot, new gutters, we touched just about every part of the house,” D’Arcy said.

On Tuesday, the Davis family finally got to see their renovated home.

“I felt like I was gonna jump out of my skin today, I got up this morning, got ready for work and I’m like okay today’s the day,” Davis said.

She said she has a lot of people to thank for making her dream of staying in her home come true.

“The firemen, to the total strangers that came and worked in my house to the people stopping by,” Davis said.

After taking a walk through her new home, Davis said she has a lot of favorite parts of her updated home.

From her kitchen, to the Van Gough wall and the room her grandchild will stay when they come to visit.

‘From ashes come great beauty and not just great beauty of a beautiful new house but the beauty you see in people,” Davis said.

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