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Amanda Butterfield reporting A family in Taylorsville watched as their house was torn down this morning. The Groves haven't been able to live there for the past six months because of what was growing in the house and what it was doing to their children.
Today the group Heart 2 Home stepped in to build a new house.
From the outside it looks like a good home. For six years the Groves raised their three sons there. All three have serious health problems.
Mandalina Groves explained, "Michael has really bad seizures and asthma, and he's developmentally delayed."
He's the youngest. Then there's Gavon. He has severe allergies that are so bad he doesn't eat. "He's fed by a tube," Mandalina said.
And Gabe, the oldest, has the worst health. "Gabe has a rare brain tumor, and he doesn't have function of [his] endocrine system. So [he's] on a lot of life-sustaining medicine," Mandalina told us.
As the Groves were trying to keep their boys healthy, they didn't know black mold was growing everywhere in their house.
"This is where we first found it. We started pulling up tiles because water was seeping on the floor," Mandalina said.
But they didn't think it was too bad, until they decided to leave for awhile. "I had no idea what black mold could do until we moved out and saw the difference of health in our children," Mandalina said.
Gavon started eating solid food. Gabe grew a few inches and gained weight. And Michael had fewer seizures.
When the family came back to the house a few weeks later, black mold had taken over, especially in the boys' rooms. "It was growing up on furniture, over here growing through the carpet," Mandalina said.
There was no way the Groves could move back, and there was no way they could afford another home.
Greg Adamson of Heart 2 Home said, "It was a story we couldn't turn away from, and this was a family we wanted to do this makeover for."
That's why Heart 2 Home tore down the house this morning, as the neighborhood watched.
Kevin Groves said, "It was pretty cool, but yet a lot of emotion. We spent a good six years there."
Mandalina added, "I'm so grateful we're going to have a home, but it's so hard to see all of your memories go down. Very hard."
But the new house volunteers with Heart 2 Home will re-build for the family will hopefully have better, healthier memories. Heart 2 Home will finish the Groves' new home in nine days, and we will be there as they walk in for the first time.
E-mail: abutterfield@ksl.com
