Those were among the words Matt Devereaux read in Sydney Natto’s “40 Feet and Higher” essay several months after Chris Natto was injured.
Devereaux, Lennar Homes’ division president for North Florida, had been looking for a family to help. Someone to benefit from the company’s Focused Acts of Caring effort, which gives back to the community and not necessarily just through money.
“It’s about doing the right thing,” he said. “Helping people who need help.”
Devereaux had asked Justin Brown, executive director of Builders Care, to help find a family. The right family.
Months later, Brown called him and briefly described why the Nattos needed help.
Chris, of St. Augustine, was a Recon Marine and proud to be one. He and his wife, Sydney, have a son, Rhett, who turns 2 in December.
While training in February for a future deployment, Chris and nine others were making night parachute jumps from a V-22 Osprey.
“Jumping was as easy as breathing to him and his second love,” Sydney wrote. “He was always so happy to leap out of a perfectly good airplane and just free fall.”
But that night, in an area where they’d never jumped, she wrote, the men realized they would inadvertently have to land 2 miles beyond the drop zone. Many landed in trees and backyards.
Chris landed in a pine tree, on a branch that couldn’t hold him. His parachute collapsed and he fell 40 feet to the ground, landing on his back.
It was the moment that changed the young family forever.
Brown sent Devereaux the eight-page essay written by Sydney, that detailed the family’s situation. “It gave me chills reading the story,” Devereaux said.
He said he knew immediately the Nattos were the family Lennar Homes should help.
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“A hospital is no place for a child and thankfully my mom and dad have taken on the job of raising our rowdy and wild little boy until we are able to build a house, move back to St. Augustine and start being a family again.” — Sydney Natto, about wanting her family reunited
Brown had listened to Sydney’s father share the family’s plight at a meeting of Builders Care, the charitable arm of the Northeast Florida Builders Association.
Jerry Dedge talked about the quest to find a handicapped-accessible home for the family. A place where Chris could be reunited with his family instead of having to be cared for at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Tampa.
Brown said Dedge fought back tears as he told the gut-wrenching story.
Neither Chris nor Sydney’s family had the ability to take care of Chris, Brown recounted. But a mom and dad need to be together to raise their young son together.
“You could feel the torture they were going through,” Brown said.
Dedge said he was willing to buy the lot for a new home, but was seeking as much help as possible from builders and trade partners.
It turned out to not be necessary for Dedge to buy the lot.
Devereaux was touched by what Chris, 26, had done for the country and the sacrifices he and his family had made.
When he met Sydney, that was only strengthened. Members of NEFBA got to hear the family’s story, as well.
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“We are truly blessed in so many ways. We have a great supportive family and fantastic friends. We are also so thankful for all the people who have been so helpful and giving in this very hard adjustment in our lives.” — Sydney Natto, about the amount of support the family has received
A family friend, Bruce Peters, spoke first to the members of NEFBA, a group to which he once belonged.
He shared his fears of depression one day impacting Chris, who didn’t want to be a burden, Brown recounted Peters telling the group.
Peters talked of Sydney’s strength and how she wanted nothing more than for her family to be together.
And then it was Sydney’s turn.
Brown said he could feel that as Sydney began sharing her story, she was processing it probably for the first time. Not only saying the words, but finally hearing and feeling them.
The anchor of the family began to cry. Many people in the audience shed tears, as well.
They were touched and wanted to help.
Once Devereaux committed to build the home, he reached out to trade partners. Dozens signed on almost immediately.
“Within not even 24 hours, they had all but two trades filled,” Brown said.
But, he said, Devereaux wanted Builders Care to be involved.
So, the nonprofit’s military project will focus on helping the Natto family.
Builders Care is trying to raise money for things like impact fees, an educational fund for Rhett, an adjustable bed for Chris and other needs the family will have, Brown said.
Part of that fundraising will be through selling a T-shirt with a Recon Marine logo on the front.
See more details about the effort on Builders Care website at builderscare.org.
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“Anything is possible and you just have to believe that you can achieve it. Have faith that God will see you through it and give you the strength you need to live it. God never gives you more than you can handle, and I believe that whole heartedly.” — Sydney Natto, on having faith
Devereaux wants the Nattos to be in their new home the first week of December, so they’re settled in by Christmas.
That timeline brought about an impromptu groundbreaking last month, where he and others were joined by Sydney, Rhett and members of their family.
It was a pretty special time, Devereaux said.
Though the homesite was in the beginning stages, the event was helping it become a reality and not just words on paper.
This would be the home where Rhett could play in the front yard. Where Chris could come home to. Where the family could be together again.
Not long after that day, the roof was on, with the drywall up next.
Devereaux wants Chris to have access everywhere in the 2,267-square-foot handicapped-accessible home on a lot donated by the developer of Arbor Mill at Mill Creek.
Devereaux grew up with an uncle who was disabled and remembers the struggles his uncle and grandparents faced because they didn’t live in a handicapped-accessible home.
He wants the Nattos’ three-bedroom, two-bathroom home to allow Chris to be as self-sufficient, as possible.
There’s a specially created space for a home gym for Chris to continue his rehab.
And although Chris may not be able to give Rhett a bath, the team made sure he could access to the second bathroom and watch that happen.
There’s a second microwave in a lower kitchen cabinet underneath the counter and a second sink that’s lowered in the kitchen island.
There’s also an outdoor kitchen with a handicapped accessible grill. And the lengthened three-car garage has a ramp built into the foundation.
Devereaux said Sydney was “more than thankful.”
“It’s nothing she ever thought to ask for,” he said. “She was just in awe.”
Devereaux was appreciative for the dozens of companies that eagerly stepped up to provide labor and materials, everything from concrete to framing to roofing to drywall and beyond.
He also praised Lennar, saying the project shows what type of company it is.
“It would be easy for us to just push along and build a lot of homes and sell a lot of homes,” said Devereaux, who’s been with Lennar Homes since 2001. “But it’s really about what you do for the community and those truly in need.”
He was a little hesitant to talk about the project at first because charitable work is not something the company does for publicity. And he doesn’t want it taken that way.
Builders and their trade partners in the industry have a generous heart, Devereaux said.
A heart big enough to build a home and reunite a family.
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“Chris wants to be able to play with his son again. Throw a ball with him, put him to bed and read him a story, and just be able to be a dad and a husband again. He just wants his life back. It is by no means the life we had planned, but it is still a life and we are so thankful that we get to have it.” — Sydney Natto, about reuniting her family
Trade partners that are helping Lennar with Natto home
• 84 Lumber Co.
• ABC Supply Co.
• AC Designs of St. Augustine
• Alside
• Amasons
• American Insulators
• American Residential Products
• Axis Communications
• B&B Exterminating Co.
• Bartram Trail Surveying
• Beson 4
• Builders First Source Lumber
• California Closets
• Carpenter Contractors of America
• Cemex Construction Materials Florida
• Central Floida Contractor Services
• Cheykota Construction
• Clean All of Florida
• Consolidated Electrical Distributors
• Construction Specialties of North Florida
• Cosentino Group
• Coverall Interiors
• Daltile
• Design Center at the Avenues
• Door Control Inc.
• Electrolux Home Products
• First Quality Gas
• Florida Roads
• Forum Capital Partners
• GAF Materials
• GCR Concepts
• Greenberg Traurig
• Greenslade Electric
• HabiTech Systems
• Hammock Home Improvements
• HF Golf and Promo
• Hughes Trim
• Hunter Industries
• Israel Gonzalez Painting Services
• J Sterling Quality Roofing
• Jaguar Cleaning
• James Hardie
• Kingspan Group
• Kohler Sterling
• Krain Designs
• LG Hausys
• Mad Men Marketing
• Mailbox Solutions
• McDonald Electric Service
• Mercedes-Benz
• Miranda Contracting
• Moen
• Mother Earth Stone
• North American Title Co.
• Outdoor Site Solutions
• Perret + Associates
• Petticoat Schmidt
• Premier Windows & Cabinets
• Pro-Vigil
• Quality By Design
• Randall Rathjen
• RGM Construction
• Rinnai
• Royal Baths Manufacturing Company
• Seagull Lighting
• Sherwin Williams
• Skyetec Environmental Building Solutions
• Solis Brother’s Corporation
• Security 101
• Stair Masterz Inc.
• Stephens Advertising
• Sunshine State Plumbing
• TCI Contracting
• The Permit Lady
• The Towers Group
• Timberlake Cabinetry
• Trane
• True Design Studio
• Two Men and a Truck
• United Landscapes
• Universal Engineering Sciences
• Vallencourt
• Vatos
• Waterlink Irrigation
• Woodsman Kitchens & Floors