The Peeples family had a nice life.

Then the bottom fell out - literally.

A layoff was followed by financial troubles, and Laura Peeples, her husband, Jason, and their sons, two with cerebral palsy, had to move to an aunt's house in Jacksonville. Then the floor began falling in under the weight of son Christopher's electric wheelchair.

The Southside cottage among the pines has since been strengthened by contractor volunteers, as has the Peeples' belief in people.

"It is unbelievable what they have done, and my main thing with them is they have done so much for nothing," said Laura Peeples, 37. "At a time when everyone is struggling, for these guys to do what they are doing is just amazing."

It wasn't about a Christmas good deed or a once-a-year volunteering obligation. It was about seeing good people in a fix and lending a hand.

"They met our family and saw our needs, and it makes me want to cry," she said.

Spending Christmas Eve giving the cottage on Spring Forest Avenue a new shade of pink, contractor Matthew Fleck said he and the others helped because the Peeples "are good people."

"We saw they were also in need, and we just wanted to help. And they feed us good," Fleck said with a smile.

The Peeples have three sons. Christopher is 7, and his cerebral palsy has him in a wheelchair. He has a twin brother, Andrew, and a 13-year-old brother, Wesley, who also has cerebral palsy.

When their father, Jason Peeples, lost his job during a company merger, it didn't stop there.

"We lost our house, our car and everything. We went from making a whole lot of money to unemployment," Laura Peeples said.

They moved in with an aunt, Judy Collier, and Laura's mother, Deborah Elgin. But more problems were found after the contractor they hired looked at the rotten wood floors.

"The tub and toilet were falling in," she said. "As different contractors started coming in and working, we hit our budget. There was still so much more to do and the budget wouldn't allow it."

But work didn't stop. The Peeples paid for material, and Fleck joined contractor Eddie Tipton, Brian Erbaugh, Dale Courson and others to do the month-long renovation for almost nothing.

"Most of it has been volunteer, while some of the others have really been doing it for a discounted price," Fleck said.

New floors were built in the bathroom, kitchen and hallway, and they helped replace the tub. Sagging windows were replaced, and new shutters built.

"They just took over and replaced the structure of the house," Laura Peeples said. "They have built a ramp to get Christopher in. ... It was just a horrible, horrible mess and these guys have busted their butts."

After using the new ramp, made out of scrap wood, to watch Fleck and Erbaugh paint outside, Christopher said he was happy.

"It feels so good because they are helping me," he said. "They helped me so I can get outside and get in my house."

Collier said what happened is "fabulous."

"It just proves over and over that people have a heart and humans are good-natured," Collier said.

dan.scanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-12-27/story/jacksonville-ju...