Brenda Rivers has spent the last few months living in a spare bedroom in her daughter's house. Her home, which sat along the Greenbrier River, was destroyed this summer after floods ravaged the state.
In a few days she will move into a new home built by students at Spring Valley High School in Wayne County.
Rivers' new "tiny home" is one of 15 built by high school students from 12 schools throughout the state for flood victims. All of the homes from the Big Hearts Give Tiny Homes project were displayed at the West Virginia Air National Guard's 130th Airlift Wing at Yeager Airport on Tuesday.
Students were given just over a month to complete the homes. Instructors and administrators at the schools supervised the construction of the homes. Community members and local businesses donated items for the homes like furniture, appliances, and food for the families. Some homes even came with a small Christmas tree.
For Rivers, the home will be more than shelter for her, her dog and her cat - it will provide her a sense of stability. For 20 years, Rivers lived alone. For the last few months, she's been in a crowded home with her daughter and her five grandchildren. The home will be set up right next to her daughter's but will still give her own space.
"To have everything taken away from you, [the home] is a big Christmas present," Rivers said. "I'm so grateful."
Rivers' home was built by 40 students at Spring Valley High School in 51 days, according to Chance Ballard, a 17-year-old senior at the school. For him, the project gave him a chance to use the skills he's learned in the classroom for good.
"For me it's nice to know that this is something I can do," Ballard said.
Rivers said she plans to keep in touch with the students as she sets up the home.
Owen Siford, a junior at Spring Mills High School in Martinsburg, spent 31 days working on his school's tiny home. Unlike most other schools, Spring Mills students and staff members set up their home so someone could put an addition on it if they wanted to.
"It's a great solution to make a temporary home into a permanent home," Siford said. "It makes it feel like a home instead of a house."
He said since the school typically has smaller-scale projects to practice their building skills. This was the first time many students built something that would actually be used. Since they started working on the project a local Habitat for Humanity chapter reached out to them to build more.
"We put in our blood, sweat and tears in it. We really have great pride in it," Siford said.
In a speech given to attendees, State Superintendent of Schools Michael Martirano said West Virginia is a state known for taking care of others. He witnessed the state's students and teachers give back to those in need through food pantries, clothing drives and other services. He said this continued after the floods.
"I am so proud to be part of the state where we take care of individuals, and we define a purpose-driven life by how we take care of the least, lost, the leftover and the forgotten," Martirano said.
He said the students who participated in the project will never forget the experience, and that it taught them to not focus of materialistic goods.
"When individuals are down, we reach down, take a hand and lift them up," Martirano said.
The June 23 floods killed 23 people and destroyed or damaged numerous homes, businesses and schools.
Reach Ali Schmitz at ali.schmitz@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow @SchmitzMedia on Twitter.