BRADENTON – When Yvonne Westermeyer married her husband 31 years ago, she was working in a Hawaii children’s hospital.
“That’s where I started working with special needs babies in the NICU,” Westermeyer said.
She helped start a program to foster the babies and eventually reunite them with their biological parents.
“When parents didn’t get their acts together and courts terminated parental rights, we kept each and every one because we fell in love with them,” Westermeyer said.
Her 13 kids range in age from 17 to 53; some have special needs. Yvonne’s husband also has Parkinson’s.
“So we relocated back to our original house from a new one, which is not working out for us there with stairs, etc.,” Westermeyer said.
She says renters left it in bad shape. Her current furniture is borrowed, so she went to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore looking for more.
“Their story just hit my heart,” Habitat Director of Retail Karen McElroy said. “I came up with ‘Family Room Flip,’ and I just created a form for people to tell me why they deserved a family room.”
Yvonne put her name in, shared her story and won. She’s now excited to have a space where every family member will have a seat.
“When our gang gets together it’s a lot,” Westermeyer said. “It’s a hectic life, but very rewarding
The makeover should be finished in a few weeks. They’re looking for someone to donate a TV that can be mounted in the living room, and if you’re interested in helping, call (941) 355-7082.
