LACEY, Wash. - Lincoln and T.J. jump into their father Hans' arms when he returns home from a week long trip. It's a greeting that warms a dad's heart.
Then, as Hans Funk looks across the street, he's overwhelmed by a homecoming that's a shock to his system.
"Wow, goodness, gracious me!" A stunned Hans doesn't know what else to say.
A crowd of more than 100 people packs onto Hans' tiny front yard. Tarps cover his house.
"Here's the keys to your new house," says friend Laura Lundin as she hands over two sets of house keys. Then she yells into her bullhorn, and the tarps drop. The crowd claps and cheers.
Again, Hans says, "Goodness, gracious me."
While Hans was away all week, he had no idea that dozens of people were completely remodeling his Lacey home, inside and out. As his gaze absorbs his new exterior paint and shingled roof, Lundin ushers the Funk family inside. There, they see new furniture, appliances, a whole new bathroom and kitchen.
Again, Hans says, "Goodness, gracious me."
To put Hans' shock in perspective, consider how the Funk's home looked just one week ago. A hole in the living room ceiling leaked water, the bathroom floor was ready to give way and the tub fixtures barely worked. Their back shed was ready to collapse.
"It wasn't like they didn't try. It wasn't like the house was dirty. It was just in such bad repair," explains Lundin.
That's because Hans Funk dedicates all of his spare time and money mentoring teens. He's a youth pastor at South Sound Church. This past week, he took the church's teens on a mission trip to help others, never knowing that back home his church was working to help him and his wife.
"She deserved a beautiful home like her friends," said Lundin, who coordinated the remodeling work.
It began with just a plan to fix the living room ceiling hole, but the project soon grew to an all-out community effort. Local businesses began donating products and labor, a roofer donated his crew's time. A complete stranger drove by and handed over $10. Volunteers washed toys, made new quilts for the beds, and even stocked the family's fridge.
Today, the amazed Funks walk outside and step onto a newly landscaped yard. They enter the previously-collapsing back shed. It's now rebuilt and stocked with home school supplies for Meg Funk and her children. The other side of the shed is remodeled into a bike shop for Hans. More than ten bikes hang neatly from the ceiling. Hans fixes the bikes and gives them away.
This man who known for talking a lot, is struck speechless.
"I don't know how to deal with this," says Hans Funk.
In the backyard, a new picnic table is covered with handwritten messages of goodwill. Its a greeting card, of sorts, signed by all of the dozens of people who volunteered supplies and labor this past week. All total, this remodel is worth about $70,000, nearly what the Funk family paid for the home.
More than just a remodel, this is a renewal of Hans Funk's spirit. "I had no idea the level of... more than 'charity'...just the outpouring of love that happened here," says Hans.
If home is where the heart is, then the heartbeat of the Funk home is pounding in overdrive.
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