Sonya Barclay was in serious need of some positive news. Her breast cancer had spread through her bones and feeling worn-out from treatment. But that didn’t stop her from wanting to make some improvements to her old home, in serious disrepair, that housed her four children, her husband and herself. She and her husband decided to compile a tape for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

Surely the producers of the TV show would see this family’s need and want to take on the project. Her family worked hard to compile a video that displayed the hardship they had fallen under, with her husband explaining to the camera how he had recently lost his job at the local mill, which had recently shut down.

But the TV show receives a lot of tapes. And unfortunately the Barclays weren’t one of the chosen families.

So what did her community do? They built a house for her. The city of Old Town, Maine gathered and in the old “barn raising” tradition built a new, 3 story home for the Barclays within 22 days with the help of 400 volunteers and 22 businesses.

The Barclays were floored (literally!)

Says Sonya:

“This to me is more than a dream come true. And it didn’t take a TV show to build this house. It was built out of love, compassion and they knew that we needed it and they went ahead and did it.”