A New Home for Virgie

In December of 2008 an East Tennessee mountain ministry launched an effort to help 84-year-old Virgie Bowlin. She was living in extreme squalor in a dilapidated home with no running water, bath, and only an outhouse with the door missing for a toilet. Within three days of a newspaper article running about Virgie's plight, the ministry had raised more than $20,000 in goods, services and cash, including a new single-wide mobile home. The ministry director described Virgie's living conditions as 'Appalachia at its worst' and the community's response as 'Appalachia at it's best.' But, Virgie's happiness is jeopardized when an abusive grandson with a history of violence against Virgie is released from prison and moves in, taking over Virgie's new home.