6A | OCTOBER 29, 2020
Veteran
from A5
“The big things are the
electrical because we’re
talking fire hazards,” said
Bush. “And plumbing is a
concern for sanitary rea-
sons.”
Furthermore,
Bush
learned that the contrac-
tor was unqualified for
the work he did.
“He’s a licensed con-
tractor, but not licensed
for electrical or plumb-
ing,” said Bush.
Based on the workman-
ship, Bush didn’t think the
subcontractors seemed to
have the skills for the jobs
they were assigned to, ei-
ther.
“I was so flabbergast-
ed,” said Bush, who began
sharing the story with
others in the construction
field.
Before long, the South-
mayds’ story had ral-
lied several contractors
around the idea that the
building could be fixed
and made safe for the
family.
Professionals
began
committing to donating
their services.
“The next thing I knew,
I had a whole team of ex-
perts,” said Bush. “I got
engineers, I got other
building officials, I got
plumbers, I got every-
body.”
After an extensive
home inspection report,
however, it became clear
the house was beyond re-
pair.
Bush said the house
met several components
of “dangerous building”
code.
“It gives you 15 compo-
nents. Any combination
of those 15 components
and I can declare this a
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dangerous building,” he
said. “I’ve probably got
14.”
The report convinced
Bush and the Southmayds
it was time for another
strategy.
Bush then took it upon
himself to lead the project
of building the South-
mayds a new house.
A New Beginning
Tapping into his exten-
sive Rolodex, Bush has
been able to secure com-
mitments from a number
of professionals includ-
ing: a complete plumbing
installation from Broth-
ers Plumbing; a complete
fire suppression system
from Harvey and Price;
a complete electrical in-
stallation from Superior
Electric; a home design
to meet the disabilities of
our veteran from Robert
Coryell Designs and Riv-
er’s Edge Engineering;
and a complete interi-
or and exterior painting
from High Cascade Paint-
ing and Construction.
Bush has also enlist-
ed a commercial gener-
al superintendent and a
basic construction crew
through Bridgeway Con-
tracting while securing
site preparation by R&H
Construction and gravel
supplied by Dave’s Loam
And Topsoil.
In all, Bush estimated
commitments to be worth
around $80,000 in them-
selves.
The new building is
being designed with
Jayson’s in mind as well.
Due to the nature of his
injuries, the veteran ex-
pects to eventually be in
a wheelchair and the cur-
rent restrictions due to
COVID-19 have compli-
cated his treatments.
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“Before COVID hit,
I had doctors’ appoint-
ments, usually two to
three a day, every day of
the week,” said Jayson.
“There’s only one day I
didn’t have any appoint-
ments: physical therapy,
[neuro] feedback, acu-
pressure,
acupuncture,
hyperbaric chamber, a
pain counselor.”
Since the pandemic has
restricted many of the
therapies he had access to,
Jayson said he’s gone from
197 from 151 pounds in
the past six months due to
muscle atrophy.
Thus, the family’s new
floor plan is ADA (Amer-
icans with Disabilities
Act) adaptable and in-
cludes wider doorways,
hand bars and therapeu-
tic rooms which will al-
low Jayson to continue his
physical therapy at home
and have access to treat-
ment he lost due to the
pandemic.
The plan is ambitious
and while many have al-
ready rallied to see the
project toward comple-
tion, Bush and the South-
mayds acknowledge there
is a ways to go financially.
As such, Bush has orga-
nized a fundraising effort
to finance construction of
the home.
A GoFundMe account,
titled “Iraq Veteran and
Family Face Homeless-
ness,” has so far raised just
shy of $14,000 of its stated
$400,000 mark.
Bush is also relying on
more material and labor
donations and hopes to
reach at least a 20 or 30
thousand before launch-
ing the project. The cur-
rent aim is to get the fami-
ly into a new home before
Christmas, but barring
that, before snows put the
roof at risk of collapsing.
Bush believes the struc-
tural integrity of the
house wouldn’t allow it to
withstand a heavy winter.
“We may be a little
short on cash money
when it comes to some
of the accessories, but the
main thing is getting him
in a safe house so we can
get him out of stress and
anxiety and worries and
uncertainty,” he said.
And should donations
exceed the cost of the
project, Bush and the
Southmayds plan to put
the funds to use to help
others such as donating
to the Veterans Treatment
Court.
“I don’t want to give
off the impression that
we’re building him a cas-
tle a socking away half a
million in the bank,” said
Bush. “If we end up get-
ting more than we need,
then we’ve got plans to
donate, pay it forward
and do whatever it takes
to make us transparent.”
The current house will
also serve its own purpose
in the process. Once the
Southmayds are in their
new home, Bush plans to
forensically bring down
the old building, using
it as a cautionary tale for
others in the field.
“We’re going to try
to create a humungous
training opportunity for
all the building depart-
ments in Oregon,” he said.
Ultimately, Bush said
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goal.”
The project’s GoFund-
Me account can be found
online at www.gofundme.
com/f/southmayd-veter-
an-home-repair and an
account has been set up
with First Community
Credit Union under the
title Misty Southmayd
Rebuilding Fund.
Jason Bush can be
reached by phone at 541-
952-1456 or by email at
wwguarddogg@gmail.
com.
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he hopes to see that the
Southmayds receive the
quality of life they de-
serve.
“Somebody who goes
and does what he’s done,
fights for our country,
comes home and do-
nates his whole life to his
community, he deserves
a house,” said Bush. “He
deserves some place to
live that’s safe and sound
where he can focus on
himself and his fami-
ly. And that’s my biggest
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