THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 9, 1997 TAG: 9702080178
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARK YOUNG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 71 lines
When the public heard of the plight of wheelchair-bound Pungo resident Richard Ulrey and his wife Peggy in May 1995, conditions sounded pretty grim.
Richard Ulrey's mother and stepfather had run up massive debts borrowing against their home and the property on which Ulrey's trailer was sitting. After his mother died, Ulrey and his wife learned that the property where they expected to live forever was up for sale. Lawyers advised them to move, but they didn't know how they could afford to.
Richard Ulrey had only recently been released from the hospital and was living on disability payments from an accident as a teen-ager that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Although his wife's seasonal employment supplemented his disability, it was already tough enough to make the payments on their trailer.
Then their pastor, the Rev. William Stanley, of the Pungo Church of God, took up their cause. They found a dilapidated home, only a mile away from the church, that they thought they might be able to afford. First the building would have to be fixed up enough to suit a lender. In the end, the structure was not repairable, but Stanley, who is Peggy Ulrey's uncle, had faith that things would work out.
They did.
Today a new home on Charity Neck Road stands as a testimony of the spirit of charity and neighborliness in the hearts of dozens of individuals and companies from Pungo to as far away as Charlotte, N.C.
The week before Christmas the couple and their cats, Sammy and Ginny, moved into their new home, designed by Peggy Ulrey and specially built to accommodate her husband's wheelchair.
Stanley, a part-time minister and full-time handyman who works for city schools' maintenance department, said the spirit of the scriptures sustained his parishoners and himself.
Just recently the church gave the couple a housewarming.
The Ulreys told of the scores of weekends volunteer crews would appear at the homesite. Peggy Ulrey would bring fried chicken, salads and sandwiches to feed them. Richard Ulrey worked alongside his friends and neighbors as much as possible, climbing out of his wheelchair and installing the carpeting with his brother Melvin.
During the 17 months of construction, the couple made new friends. People they had never met stepped forward to work on the project. Their new next-door neighbors and another man were responsible for installing all of the wiring. Gary White, a family friend and another man, known only as Fentress, donated and installed all the plumbing.
``It's nice to know there are still people around who are willing to give up time from their busy lives to help others,'' said Peggy Ulrey.
The project was easily the largest the small Pungo church has ever taken on. Its weekly attendance hovers around 50, Stanley said. Other churches gave donations of cash and labor. Local businesses contributed a variety of materials. Richard Foster of Baymark Construction told the preacher, ``You make a list and I'll see that you get it,'' Stanley said.
An old friend from Charlotte came up to install the heating and air conditioning.
A set of unique windows, 55 inches wide and 30 inches tall lend a sunny dimension to a hall and laundry area. A manufacturing error made them unsuitable for the original purchaser, so they were donated. An extra wide shower area makes it possible for Richard Ulrey to wheel his chair into the shower.
Peggy Ulrey read from a statement she had prepared for the housewarming. ``God has surely blessed us with many caring people. We thank you all from the very bottom of our hearts.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Richard and Peggy Ulrey have settled into their new home on Charity
Neck Road. Their pastor, the Rev. William Stanley, front, led the
project.