New home built for veteran family in need

A high desert family who has had to overcome severe medical conditions is getting a new home built from the ground up in just three days.

Debbie and Lloyd Tilch along with their 16-year-old grandson Cody are going to have a brand new house to call home in Twenty Nine Palms.

“I’ve always wanted to have a home of our own for my family as a central point it’s quite a thrill to actually be able to get one,” says Lloyd Tilch, a retired Navy veteran who served for 20 years as a hospital corpsman.

All three members of the family have had to suffer harsh medical conditions. Lloyd is a disabled Navy veteran, Debbie has been battling several different types of cancer for years.

“Cody, he has cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, diabetes, a heart condition that can result in near cardiac death, and thyroid disease,” says Debbie Tilch who has been taking care of her grandson for most of his life.

The family’s ongoing and substantial medical costs have hampered them from finding secure and safe housing or owning their own home.

“Their medical expenses is what put them into the huge problems that they have is what triggered for us to do it now,” says Jeff Moritz, President of the Desert Communities Fuller Center for Housing.

Hundreds of skilled laborers and volunteers came together to build the house. It should take less than 3 days.

“It’s one of the least thing that we can do is come out and help a family in need but him being a veteran that just means the whole world to us,” says Jeff May, owner of Southwest Plumbing who donates materials and labor to do the plumbing in the new home.

“People live in the desert for a reason and part of it is they want other help other people because we’re kind of like pioneers and this is what it’s all about right here,” says Daniel Mintz, Mayor of Twenty Nine Palms.

“I couldn’t of been blessed with a more amazing community and support system,” says Debbie Tilch.