An online fundraising campaign is aiming to help an Iraq war veteran and 1987 M-CHS grad make mortgage payments on a handicap-equipped home to house his family of seven.
The GoFundMe campaign for Gene Westbrook, currently of Lawton, Okla., was started by his son-in-law William Crutchfield. Westbrook, a retired sargent left triplegic after a 2004 mortar attack in Iraq, was also in a car accident in 2006 that left his son paralyzed.
The Westbrook family was the subject of the reality show in 2007, “Extreme Home Makeover,” that completely remodeled their small single-family home into a handicap-accessible dwelling large enough to accommodate the entire family. But after his wife’s death in 2009, relatives who were charged with covering the home’s mortgage couldn’t afford to make the payments, and the home was sold.
Westbrook was placed in a VA Center, as his children went on to live with relatives.
Six years later, Westbrook is trying to buy back the home and his son-in-law is hoping to raise funds to help him meet monthly mortgage payments for a place that can accommodate all members of the family.
“Me and my father-in-law have taken this head-on, we’ve gone to the VA for a loan which is well on its way,” said Crutchfield. “The funds would go toward helping him with the mortgage. I don’t want him just laying in a bed at a hospital...he wants to build bonds with his grandkids, and barbeque with his son-in-law. He deserves a veteran, and a place to live to be with the whole family.”
Crutchfield is hoping to raise $100,000 with the GoFundMe page. More information can be found here: http://www.gofundme.com/ybvf2jk