When Cara Brookins’ second abusive marriage ended, she was left emotionally damaged. She built her own house after watching how-to videos on YouTube, and that’s how she recovered.
The mother of four was forced to sell the Bryant, Arkansas, home she lived with her soon-to-be ex, and she began looking for a new place to live in 2007.
But anything the computer programmer analyst could afford just now was too small. Brookins felt compelled to act as well in order to reunite her family. “But I had no idea what that should be,” she acknowledges.
As a result, Brookins had the notion to construct her own home from the ground up. “If anyone was in our situation, they wouldn’t do this,” asserts Brookins, 45. “I know it sounds crazy, but no one else saw it this way,” the speaker said.
Brookins paid $20,000 for an acre of land, and she received a building credit worth almost $150,000. She then began viewing videos on YouTube to learn how to accomplish tasks like installing plumbing, building a wall, running a gas line, and laying a foundation.
Her kids, who ranged in age from two to seventeen, assisted her during the 3,500-square-foot home’s nine-month construction. Drew, who was fifteen at the time, assisted Brookins with the arrangements.
There was no running water on the property, so 11-year-old Jada used buckets to carry water from a neighbor’s pond. She then made the foundation mortar by mixing 80-pound sacks of concrete with water.
For all that time, Brookins—who worked during the school day—thought it was impossible. Brookins took her family to the construction site five miles away from school, where she worked through the night on the new house.
YouTube videos previously were unclear and presented multiple solutions to a task. For $25 per hour, Brookins hired a part-time firefighter with building experience to assist with some of the more difficult duties. “He was a step ahead of us in knowledge,” she recalled.
Brookins and her children moved into the five-bedroom house on March 31, 2009. She acknowledged her ambition to become a writer by naming it Inkwell Manor.
In the years followed, Brookins has authored numerous middle school and young adult works. In addition, she wrote a biography that will be published on January 24 under the title Rise: How a House Built a Family.
Constructing the home assisted Brookins in overcoming her melancholy. Brookins continues, “We felt ashamed that building our own shelter was the best option available to us.” “We weren’t very pleased with it,” It turned out to be the greatest thing I could have done for myself in the end.
She argues, “If I, a 110-pound computer programmer, can build an entire house, then you can do anything you set your mind to.” Select one objective and stick to it. Decide on the huge project you want to work on, take baby steps toward it, and include people in your path who also require mending. That has a lot of influence.
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