Community rebuilds house ravaged by fire for widowed single mum
A community on the Gold Coast has demonstrated what it means to be Australian by rebuilding a home ravaged by fire just in time for Christmas.
In March a devastating house fire ripped through single mother Stacy Gardner's home, just months after the father of her two sons died, leaving her family with nothing.
But Ms Gardner's community of Coomera Waters refused to let her go it alone.
A house fire razed Ms Gardner's home to the ground. Supplied
A Facebook post and a week later, a small army had formed and over the past nine months volunteers have come from everywhere. Tradies worked for free, donating their time, labour and materials.
Ms Gardner and her son's Joshua and Harrison walked through the doors for the first time as the house was unveiled last night, and they were floored by the generosity of their community.
"It was extremely emotional, extremely overwhelming. I think I can speak for me and the boys, we were absolutely blown away by everything that everybody had done," Ms Gardner told Today.
But the community rallied behind her. Supplied
Tradies and volunteers worked for free, donating their time, labour and materials. Supplied
"The house, having it back was amazing. So we were absolutely blessed and bowled over. Very overwhelmed. We still are a little bit."
She revealed the favourite part of the house, for her sons, is the air-conditioning as they have gone without it for the past nine months.
"I love everything about that house. The media room for the kids is one of my favourite rooms. Just to see them last night sitting in there, with their drinks and relaxing on the lounge - I don't think we will ever pry them off it."
The rebuild was unveiled to Stacy last night. Supplied
The dramatic makeover has left her overwhelmed and thankful to her community. Supplied
In her time of triumph, Ms Gardner and project coordinator Simon Flack had a message for those affected by bushfires.
"We are thinking of people in the bushfires as well… we banded together. I only met Stacy the day of the fire, and my wife says to me, 'you better help this lady out'," Mr Flack said.
"Did exactly what she told me to, do, that's what I've done.
"We had people come from all over the place… I had no idea how to build a house when we started, I bluffed my way through and got some awesome people in to help me out.
"We couldn't have done it without the help of the community."
She said project coordinator Simon Flack (right) was a rare find. Supplied
Ms Gardner said she is extremely thankful to her community, and words can't begin to capture it.
"I keep saying to Simon I don't know how to thank everybody, saying thank you doesn't seem enough," she said.
"I want everybody in to know how grateful, how thankful we are, how beautiful I think they are.
"And thank you so very, very much from the bottom of our hearts - and Simon, he's a rare little find. To have someone like that in the community."
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