Churchs good deed prompts calls to Marysville City Hall

MARYSVILLE It was a false alarm of the best kind.
After the city code enforcement officer heard more than a dozen complaints about graffiti on a mobile home in the center of town, the residents of the dilapidated house were in a tizzy.
Sami and Bret Copley were facing enough challenges already. A married couple in their mid-40s, they have been hard pressed to raise their three children and survive after he was diagnosed with frontal lobe dementia three years ago.
Unable to speak and care for himself, much less earn a living, the Copleys were living in an old mobile home on Grove Street that was run down and plagued by mold.
Thats when members of the Marysville First Assembly stepped in to donate the labor and materials for a new home for the couple. After packing the Copleys belongings up a work crew from the church celebrated by what else, trashing the place.
The Copleys and their friends took some hammers and spray paint to the walls and exterior of the house, saying goodbye by painting phrases like Heavenly home makeover and Were rich because of Jesus.
But in a city that has been plagued with rampant vandals tagged both city, school and private property with a constant stream of graffiti, officials were quick to jump on the eyesore. But they quickly jumped off again after they learned the house would be demolished a week later and replaced with a brand-new manufactured home for the couple.
Andria Shepard is one of the ringleaders who helped move the Copleys up and out, first into temporary quarters while their new home is built with donated labor from church members and a $10,000 love offering. She said it was shocking at first that community members would complain about such a good deed, but Shepard was quick to point out that the city quickly reversed itself when it got the full story of what was going on.
Pastor Ken Squires said the couple has been a living testimony as they have endured Brets Alzheimer-like symptoms, and church members are delighted as Bret sticks with the choir.
He smiles all the time, Squires said.
He said the church as worked with many other folks facing a variety of challenges in years past and that is just a part of their mission in Marysville.
Hopefully its a pattern and a trend, Squires said.
People have various needs and at his church everybody wants to pitch in somehow. Different people want to do different things.
And yet the project has also been a work of faith for the members too as they embarked on what looked certain to be a partial makeover or renovation. Shepard wanted to do a complete project but the resources simply werent there, the pastor explained, but as work progressed more and more people from the community came forward saying they wanted to help. One of the men in the church has heavy equipment and he dozed the house and is prepping the site for the new manufactured home.
We end up coming out surprised at who gets involved, Squires said. People come through. Its a great lesson.
As for the Copleys, the work has been a buttress for their faith in God and man. Squires said the family has been taken aback by the concern the community has shown for their plight.
I think they are blown away, he said. They are grateful. They are a very humble couple. Were just going to stay with them as much as we can.
Shepard said more help will be needed in the future as the couple moves into their new home.