My name is Svetlana Banks. My husband and I live in Hutto, Texas about eight years. Almost fourteen years ago, when we got married, my parents, Shiloh, and I were sitting in the kitchen discussing our plans for the future. Shiloh said he had a plot of land in Texas and that, in time, we would build our own cozy house there. We were in a kitchen in Belarus, and the idea that we would one day have a home in America sounded so fantastical that it was hard to believe it would ever become real.

Let me step back for a moment and share a few details about our life that not everyone knows. I was born with spinal muscular atrophy—a condition that gradually takes away the ability to move. First I stopped walking, then it became difficult to stand, later I could no longer feed myself—and so on. My independence rests on the love of my family and on various assistive technologies that make life much easier.

My husband and I have been together for almost fourteen years—and all these years he has been my hands and feet (and my heart). During this time he hasn’t been able to sleep the way he once did: because of muscle weakness, I feel everything but can’t move, and I can’t turn over in bed on my own, so I have to wake Shiloh. For nearly fourteen years, with no weekends or vacations, he wakes up at night to adjust or turn me. And that’s only one part of our daily reality. During the day I often need my arm repositioned because staying in one position hurts; I need to be seated on the toilet, helped in the bathroom, have my hair brushed, meals prepared, dishes washed, laundry sorted—the list goes on. Now you can see why the words “we’ll build a house on our land” once felt so unreal.

We came to Texas in 2017 and began building our home. We did it ourselves, with help from Shiloh’s mom and brother. I had never been so tired in my life. We would get up around 6:00 a.m., and they would work until about 6:00 p.m., while I spent time at the computer or nearby. And then there were the same household tasks and the endless doctor visits that are also part of our life.

And then a miracle: we have our home! I love our land and our house. The fact that we built it ourselves makes it especially dear to us. We can look at a wall and remember what we were laughing about while building it and what music was playing. I adore the smell of fresh wood and of rain that has just passed—and the smell of fresh pies in our kitchen.

Our life—complicated and, perhaps, not easy for many to understand—despite all the challenges holds a great deal of joy and happiness, and we try to share it with everyone who visits us.

Our friends have helped us many times, and now we are asking for help again. Our house is set on concrete blocks. Over the years we haven’t finished everything, including some work on the foundation. Rains and the recent flooding have caused some blocks to shift, and we need to level and secure the base. We thought long and hard about how to do this. It requires special equipment and physical strength, and Shiloh has been living with constant back pain in recent years. We will continue finishing the house little by little and are willing to wait on many things, but the foundation is something that must be repaired urgently—otherwise the damage will grow and the costs will be higher.

We are asking for your help, and we, in turn, will do everything to make our home warm and welcoming so that you’ll want to come back again and again.

With love,

Svetlana and Shiloh Banks