Help Fred & Cheryl Rebuild Their Home After Crash

Hello, my name is Cheryl Spaulding. My husband (Fred) and I are raising funds to finalize the build of our new home after a reckless young driver, driving with a probationary license, crashed into our home.

Imagine being jolted awake at 1 AM by a car engine revving inside your bedroom. On September 15, 2023, that nightmare became our reality. My husband and I are among the lucky ones—we survived what should have been a fatal crash when an 18-year-old, driving with a probationary license, plowed into our house on the side of our bedroom wall while we slept.

I was drifting off to sleep when a loud boom shook our entire house. Buckling wood and shattering glass was all around us. A car had torn through our bedroom wall and smoke appeared to be coming from the vehicle. The impact pushed the sheetrock against our bedroom door. We had to claw our way out, pulling debris aside to get out of the room.

When we turned back to look at what had been our sanctuary just moments before, we saw devastation beyond belief:

• A gaping hole where our bed once stood—the same bed we'd been sleeping in seconds earlier

• Our bed split completely in half

• Our bathroom obliterated, with the toilet lid hurled into the living room

• Every piece of furniture smashed against the walls

• Cracks spider-webbing through every wall and floor in the house

• Our heavy entertainment center toppled over, crushing everything beneath it

We could have been killed. The spot where the car came to rest was exactly where we'd been sleeping.

The Heartbreaking Aftermath

The young driver—who lived just 0.1 mile away on Secluded Hollow Road—claimed he "fell asleep at the wheel while driving his mother's car." The 2nd Class Officers who arrived at the scene, gave the driver No breathalyzer. No sobriety test. No ticket for violating his probationary license curfew. We don't even know if they asked for his license, because if they did, they would have known he shouldn't have been driving. He walked away consequence-free while we lost everything we'd built together over decades. Twenty-eight years (28), we lived in our home. What if it had been your house? A Township official condemned our house later that morning, declaring it uninhabitable and requiring demolition.

For nearly two years, we've been living in limbo—moving three times, watching our family home of decades get demolished in November 2024, and struggling through an endless bureaucratic maze to rebuild.

We Are Almost Home Again

May 23, 2025, marked a milestone that felt impossible for so long—contractors broke ground providing our new foundation. After 628 days of displacement, we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

But here's the cruel irony: We're closer to home than we've been in nearly two years, yet we've never felt further away. Banks won't give us the funds to bridge the gap, leaving us close to completion but unable to cross the finish line. We refuse to give up when we're this close.

How Your Support Will Bring Us Home

Every dollar you contribute goes directly toward:

• Completing the home construction and delivery

• Installing a new septic system (required by code)

• Paying contractors for final installations

• Covering the gap that insurance and banks won't fund

We've been living out of boxes and in temporary spaces for almost 2 years, waiting for the day we can walk through the doors of our new home.

You can help us do that.

Your generosity, no matter the amount, brings us one step closer to turning the key in our own front door again. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!