Barnraising for Kevin

We need your help.

Our dear neighbor Kevin Nicholoff was restoring the home at 326 Marshall St. for his daughter, son-in-law, and their children. Not only was this going to be a wonderful owner-occupied home for the family, it was going to put the family within 200 yards of Kevin and Barb’s home. This would mean Kevin and Barb could provide love and care to the grandchildren easily every day. Three generations right near each other to support each other.

The house had been loved by the previous owner, Julia Bishop – if you lived in this neighborhood back then, you remember Julia’s orchids and exterior gardens! – but when it was purchased by Kevin’s family after Julia passed on, it needed enormous amounts of work. It essentially had to be brought back to the studs.

Kevin and his son-in-law had been working tirelessly on the house, restoring the original windows (see photo of Kevin above), arranging new electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, moving walls to open up the living space for the family, and so much more. I had the privilege of touring it several times with Kevin as the work went on. He was so excited to be doing this project for the kids and for the old house, even as he recognized it was a gigantic project. (Picture Kevin rolling his eyes about the house, the way he did.)

Then the world (and I mean the world) lost Kevin on Dec. 23, 2023. He died within just weeks of being admitted to Sparrow Hospital. Everyone who knew Kevin feels devastated, but the loss to his family is so enormous.

One of the great challenges is finishing the house Kevin was going to finish. The house has no kitchen and no bathrooms and still needs a lot of other work. The sweat equity Kevin was going to put in is obviously no longer available.

Now, frankly, it’s going to take money to help Kevin’s daughter and son-in-law finish the house and get their family moved in to be near Barb. The sooner this happens, the better off everyone will be, not least because the family won’t be carrying the costs of this house’s mortgage and where they now live.

If you have the means to help, I would be so grateful if you would join me in helping financially with donations that will go to Barb to help finish the house. Please give generously if you can.

Let’s barnraise this thing and get the family moved in as quickly as we can. It won’t bring Kevin back. But we will be doing this together in the spirit of Kevin’s exceptional generosity and love. And it will get the three generations together, where they should be, to heal.

Thank you. - Alice Dreger