South Jersey family of eight gets Hometown Heroes makeover
SICKLERVILLE, New Jersey (WPVI) -- "They're always looking for foster families," said Chuck Sweeney. "They always need support, whether it's permanent or temporary placements."
Sweeney and his wife, Grace, learned this from experience. After having two of their own biological children, they wanted a third.
"We decided to foster and start adopting," he said. "And we wanted one more, and you know, next thing we knew we had six."
That adds up to a family of eight (plus one mother-in-law) living under one roof. And for a while, their house needed a new back door, newly-painted walls, and a space to repurpose for an extra bedroom.
"Our main thing is time, dealing with special needs with two of our kids," said Grace Sweeney. "And we needed a little bit of help getting some work done."
Sweeney heard about Hometown Heroes for Special Needs through social media and reached out. Its founder, Scott D'Antonio, thought they would be a good fit for a day of service.
"I've been using my contracting business to help families, whether we're doing a day of service, fixer-ups," said D'Antonio. "I said, perfect, let's see what we can do. We'll work together. I'll get everybody and we'll get as much as we can done."
Within just a few hours, the Sweeneys said parts of their house looked unrecognizable.
"I couldn't be more more thankful. I did not expect that they would do this much work," said Chuck Sweeney. "He brought out his whole crew and it's not costing us anything."
The transformative work is only made possible through donations and volunteers. To learn more about Hometown Heroes for Special Needs and how to get involved, visit their website.
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