Greenback community repairs vete

Greenback community repairs veteran’s home after cancer diagnosis

GREENBACK, Tenn. (WATE) — The Blount County community rallied behind one of their own on Saturday, helping a veteran repair his house after he was diagnosed with stage 2 lung cancer.

“Somebody’s got to step up and do something,” said Brian Chamberlain of the Blount County Foster Parent Association.

Chamberlain and a few other people from his association would frequently bring food to Stacy Tate, a retired veteran. After noticing the state of Tate’s front porch, Chamberlain realized he wanted to make a bigger difference in his life.

“He was a big strapping man that ran his own handyman service and did rescue squad, and then back and neck surgeries put him on disability. And there’s no margin for error when you live on $941 a month,” said Chamberlain.

He said while he is well-versed in helping those in need, he doesn’t have the skills to build a deck. So, he reached out on Facebook and got connected with Volunteer Handyman, an East Tennessee home improvement business.

“Right when we came out here, we knew he was in dire need,” said Volunteer Handyman manager Austin Wilemon. “With him having been recently diagnosed with cancer, he wasn’t physically able to get it in and out of his own house. So, to my knowledge, he literally had to call an ambulance every single time that he wanted to, you know, he had to go to his appointment or get out anywhere.”

Although Tate also needs help repairing the rest of his house, they knew the deck had to be finished first. Over the weekend they plan to make Tate mobile again – installing a new deck and accessibility ramp.

“Considering the porch that I saw when we got here, I was fearful for the cat when I saw the cat on the porch when we got here — so much less any humans on there. So it’s it feels good to know that we’re making it safer, not only better, but safer for them,” said Lite Load Dump & Haul’s Steven Glasow.

Glasow also volunteered his time to help with the deck, hauling the old porch out for free. Collectively, they hope to give back to Tate the same way he would have.

“15 years ago, he would be doing this for somebody,” said Chamberlain. “If everybody just did a little bit, we don’t have to — nobody has to take a week off to help Stacy. You can take an hour off, you can donate some money, but this is just nuts and he should never should have gotten in this situation.”