Click here to watch an audio slideshow of the VanderWert’s return to their home.
With a toddler on her hip and a grin on her face, Blake VanderWert enters her newly remodeled home for the first time. “Wow,” is all she can seem to say as she spots the new flat screen T.V., couches and rug in her living room.
Sgt. Jonathan VanderWert and wife Blake bought a 120-year-old fixer-upper house in New Prague two years ago, planning to remodel it to fit their newly blended family. When a flood damaged the house in June, Sgt. VanderWert had to tear apart the roof and gut the house.
Two months later, Sgt. VanderWert was called to an 18-month active duty by the Minnesota National Guard and was sent to Camp Anaconda in Iraq, leaving his wife and kids at home. Sgt. VanderWert has three girls from his first marriage, Mrs. VanderWert has three boys and a girl from her first marriage, and the couple now has two children of their own. (Sgt. VanderWert flew home in September for the birth of their son, Vincent). With a combined total of nine children and a torn-apart house, VanderWert needed help.
The VanderWerts are the first family to benefit from Minnesota of Heroes at Home, a program that helps military families in need. The house, with only one functioning bathroom and a kitchen with no dishwasher, was unbearable for the large family to function in.
“There was dried up wood and bad tiles- cranked up ones,” says VanderWert’s 7-year-old daughter, Tatiana Hootman. “It was horrible.”
On February 15, the family squeezed their way through the house, dodging an overwhelming crowd of media, to see their new home. “It’s more than just a house now. We finally have our home,” VanderWert says.
The entire place was gutted and refurnished with the help of the community and over 25 organizations and companies. Kristin Thomsen, an interior designer from New Prague, held a community home furnishings drive that raised nearly $5,000 — enough money to refurnish the entire home. Overall donations totaled more than $200,000. “It was truly a good before and after,” Thomsen says.
“The community’s generosity, support and guidance have meant everything to us,” VanderWert says. “It has helped my kids know trust — and actually have faith and belief — that there are genuine people who care. It’s absolutely overwhelming, it’s wonderful.”
The house now has two functioning bathrooms, five newly furnished bedrooms, a brand new washer and dryer and a functioning kitchen. The third floor of the brick home was left, intentionally, for Sgt. VanderWert to remodel upon his return, just the way he wanted it. When he comes home in six months, he plans to make the upper level a master bedroom.
“I was sleeping on this cheap, little cot thing,” son Michael Hootman, 12, says when he expresses his gratitude for his new plaid-clad bed. His new room, which he will be sharing with his brother, has two twin beds, a big closet, and a brand new Xbox 360, compliments of Michael’s grandmother.
“It’s a lot better. I’m glad it’s painted and there are new blankets,” Tatiana says. “And it’s a lot warmer too,”
Shortly after the family saw the house for the first time, they got another surprise: a video conference call with Sgt. VanderWert in Iraq. The whole family, including the sergeant’s mother, talked with him while his video was broadcast on a big screen.
“Jon, the house is looking very good,” Michael says into the microphone. “I hope you can come home soon to see it.”
“I’m very curious to see what’s been going on,” Sgt. VanderWert says. “It’s a great sense of relief, and an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all the volunteers and everybody who partook in the project.”
The family spends some time speaking with each other, while the media ask the VanderWerts, both Blake and Jonathan, questions. Later, we are told to leave the family alone with the sergeant so they can speak privately. As I turn around before I leave, I see the smiles on the family’s faces, and I can feel their overwhelming gratefulness.
Kolina Cicero is an intern for Minnesota Parent.
