BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — When police were called to a home in Brooksville last November, they realized there was no crime, but the problem was too big for them to handle alone.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think that all these people could come to my home and do all of this," said homeowner Lorrie Read.
Lorrie Read has lived in this Brooksville home since the 1970’s, and when other family members have had it hard, she's opened her heart and home to them too.
"There was no way that I was going to let a young lady and her children be out on the street," said Read while explaining how 12 people have come to live in her small, rundown home.
"The house is rotten, it’s termite infested. You can reach into the house from the outside," said Brooksville Detective and "Police and Kids Foundation" founder Tracey Schofield.
With four small children and eight adults living in the 900 sq. ft. home, Schofield said police were called to check it out.
"We realized very quickly this wasn’t an abuse or neglect issue but a financial and poverty issue," said Schofield.
Detective Schofield reached out through his charity, “Police and Kids Foundation.”
"She just doesn’t have the money to fix these things. In a perfect world we would build her a new home, we just don’t have the ability to do that so all we can do is fix it for now," said Schofield.
That includes A-Ready Roofing donating a new roof, the siding will be fixed as well.
"We’ve had a little over $20,000 in services donated to this house so far," said Schofield.
Lorrie says her son was trying to earn money by removing tires from other people’s property and that's how hundreds of tires ended up on their lawn.
"We didn’t have the money for him to take it to the dump," said Read.
Dozens of volunteers including police and the Hernando High Football team came on Saturday morning to help get more than 400 tires off the property.
"You don’t have to be a certain age, you don’t have to be an adult to help people, you can do it at all age," said Will Healis, a member of the football team.
Schofield says there is still much work to do, but for now they're making it a safe environment for the very loved children.
"Its been hard, but now I think we’ve got a chance to make it better," said Read.
