Volunteers to spruce up family's home

Isabelle's House reaches out to women

Theresa Ravenell's work schedule as a bus operator shifts every few months. She likes her current shift, which runs from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., better than her last one, which ran from 1:15 to 9:15 p.m.

"I didn't like that one because it was time away from the kids," she said.

Sophia Rodriguez/The Post and Courier

Dakota Walker, Isabelle's House executive director, shows the condition of the upstairs bathroom, which was converted from a closet. She said there wasn't much her crews could do with the lack of space, but that it could be "cleaned up a little."

But when Ravenell does get quality time with her seven children, one of the things they like to do is gather around the television and watch the ABC show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." Ravenell said that sometimes the kids ask her if they can call the show to get repairs and a new look for their house on James Island.

There are some repairs that are in dire need of attention, such as the shower head that is duct taped to the plumbing in the bathroom. Their electric bill runs around $350 each month when they use central heating or air conditioning because the house is not properly insulated.

Isabelle's House, an organization based near Moncks Corner that reaches out to women in need, may not bring all the prestige that the popular TV show does, but its founder and director, Dakota Walker, and the volunteers who are coming out to the house May 25 have big plans to spruce up the Ravenells' home. The family just doesn't know what the plans are.

"We're going to blindfold and duct-tape her," Kim Lucia, the project manager said jokingly.

Walker and Lucia told the family that they are sending them on a day of fun (the details of that also are secret) while they "clean" the Ravenells' house. The actual plans are more involved than that. Suffice it to say that the family will be amazed when it returns to the results of the one-day blitz.

Another interesting fact: There will be only one male among the some 35 volunteers who are working on the house, "because a wife begged for her husband to be on the crew, and after she said she thought he could do plumbing work, we agreed to it," said Walker, who named the organization for her grandmother.

"I really want the focus to be on women helping women," she said.

The family is not completely in the dark about what's going on. Isabelle's House has helped Ravenell brush up her resume, and Walker has sent out e-mails to several potential employers. Walker also is hoping that her organization can pay for Ravenell's recertification to return to her original profession as a nurse's aide.

"The goal is for her to get a better job so she can take care of herself and the kids," Walker said. "One of the focuses of Isabelle's House is not only to fulfill basic needs but to give people things they want to fulfill the soul."

Walker also would like to help the family with some of its expenses, so she is hoping people will donate money or gift cards to the project. The rest, though, is under wraps. The crew may not get it all done in one day, but that doesn't mean it won't try.

"There's too many good ideas not to follow through," Walker said with a smile on her face.

Reach Sophia Rodriguez at 937-5538 or srodriguez@postandcourier.com.