Sherae Honeycutt

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Original Post

About 30 years ago, Brenda Baker found her dream home. But now it’s falling apart, and the Kansas City woman hopes someone can help.

“I felt it around me when I walked in,” Baker said of her KC home. “You know, when you look at houses for so long, when you walk in to one, you can feel it. This is the one I want.”

The five-bedroom, three-story home was built in 1920 with a den, rooftop porches and intricate woodwork.

“People would say, ‘Oh, I love it. I love it.’ They love it. They say people don’t do woodwork like here in homes like this anymore,” Baker said.

She and her husband bought the home on East 68th Street back in the 1990s, and for years they filled it with memories.

“About three years ago, three years ago — that’s when it started going downhill,” Baker said. “My husband, he got Alzheimer’s and put in a nursing home, so I didn’t have anything to work with.”

She tried to keep up with it, but the citations started coming.

“For the first two years it was, ‘Oh, look at that gorgeous house!’ Now I drive by it, and it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s too bad. What an eyesore it is now,’” neighborhood president LeRoy Glover said.

Glover is helping, but its not enough.

“The city`s been good at trying to work with us,” he said. “They understand the condition of the house. The problem is all the repair that needs to be done is over their budget.”

They’re hoping someone out there can help restore the home to the way it once was.

“We desperately need help here. Sister Baker is here all by herself in this great big house with very little income, and the house is basically falling in with her,” Glover said. “I’ll accept any help that is willing to help, restore the house and then I would work on getting the house on the national registry.”

Baker said she doesn’t know what else to do to keep her nearly 100-year-old house standing.

“I really don`t know what to do. This is my last resort. After this, I`m going to leave. I don`t want to give it up,” Baker said.

But Glover said he has faith that her home can stand strong once again — even if the porch is falling, paint is peeling and lights are dimming.

“Sad, but with hope. Nothing wrong with sad as long as there’s hope, and there’s definitely hope,” Glover said.

If you would like to volunteer to help Baker with her home, please reach out to Glover at 816-217-1305 or Baker at (816) 363-1858.