Players Help Family In Need

To help a family in need, BYU offensive lineman Jason Speredon inspired Heart 2 Home, a local non-profit foundation, to consider the Jensen family of Provo, Utah, to be the deserving recipient of a complete home renovation. The Nathan Jensen family saw its newly remodeled home for the first time Monday, arriving in a stretch limo escorted by BYU football team members and greeted by neighbors, family and friends.

BYU football players Jason Speredon, Brady Marshall, Russell Tialavea, Nate Hartung and Stetson Tenney all helped put up sheet rock in the early stages of the home renovation. They were present to welcome the family to its new home.

"The good people of this community stepped up big," said Heart 2 Home president Greg Adamson. "Everyone came together. Even in tough economic times the community was able to significantly contribute and make this a special experience for the Jensens."

Nathan and Natalie Jensen have four children who all suffer from different medical problems, two of the boys suffering from muscular dystrophy. Speredon, a friend of the Jensens, called the family when they were coming home from Christmas vacation and said that he had a friend of a friend that might be able to help with their home. He said he couldn’t guarantee anything, but wanted them to meet Adamson. The Jensens and Adamson met a week later and started the renovations shortly thereafter.

With the help of over 300 volunteers, the family’s home was remodeled to be wheelchair accessible with over $150,000 in renovations.

“What impresses me the most about this family is that through all of their adversity and their trials they keep a smile and stay positive,” said Speredon. “They have been blessed with great optimism. They have been a great example to me. If I were in that situation it would be easy to complain about all of my trials and struggles, but they just look for the positive. They definitely deserve this.”

Not only is the Jensen family friends with Speredon, they are big BYU fans. “We are die-hard fans,” said Natalie Jensen. “Go Cougars!” said the children.

When Speredon was asked if it changes the way he plays football to know that there are fans out there that are so devoted, he said it inspires him to be his very best on and off the field. “When there are such good fans and good people that look up to us, it’s definitely inspiring,” he said.

The whole family was delighted with the end result of their home. “The house is amazing,” said Nathan. “It doesn’t even look like the same house. We had an idea of what the house might look like, but we had no idea that it was going to turn out like this. The thing that surprised us the most was the generosity of the people that came in and did it. It is a tough time for everybody economically and having these guys come in and give of their skills and their abilities is just amazing.”

With tears streaming down her face from the moment she set her eyes on the house, Natalie expressed how there was no way they could have done the renovation by themselves. “I am just speechless, I can’t believe this is happening to our family; it is just amazing.”

Natalie and Nathan have four children, Zachary (10), Sidney (8), Brady (5) and Tyler (2), all who are very excited to be in their new home. “Our old house was smaller and I couldn’t move around in my wheelchair,” said Zachary. “The house is just beautiful. My favorite room is my room - it’s my own football stadium.”

BYU football players were grateful for the opportunity they had to help contribute to a deserving family. “Jason asked for a few of us to help out with this project and we were excited to get involved,” said Marshall. “It was a great experience and a great opportunity to help out a family in need.”

Tialavea commented on how different the house looked now compared to when they first started working on it, “It has changed a lot,” he said. “Before it was just wood and now it is a beautiful house with a beautiful family.”

Heart 2 Home has been in existence since 2006, the Jensen home being its 10th makeover.