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The community continues to rally around Felicia Jackson and the 14 children she cares for as if they are all her own.
In June, the family moved into a home near Poolesville built by hundreds of volunteers as part of ABC television's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." The episode chronicling the home's quick construction aired as the show's season premiere Sunday.
On Monday, supporters of the family donated $2,500 at a fundraiser organized by Rockville-based Classic Homes of Maryland, which built the home. The money will be used to help make mortgage payments for the land on which the house stands, utilities and food. Classic Homes paid for most of the home's construction, except for furniture, fixtures, appliances and similar finishing items donated by other companies. An additional $1,000 in donations has come through a Web site since the episode aired.
Jackson said the television show has lived up to its name by dramatically improving her life.
"Everything is falling into place. The house is the foundation I needed to help my family grow," she said.
Jackson started a full-time job a month ago as a security aide at Kingsview Middle School in Germantown, a position that provides more income than the part-time job she previously held.
"I have a good boss, beautiful people at work. They're very understanding," Jackson said during an interview at the fundraiser at The Green Turtle restaurant in Germantown.
Before she was chosen for the show, Jackson and her family survived tragedy and hardships thanks to their resilience and help from determined friends.
Jackson and her sister, Cassandra, grew up together in a foster home, separated and lost touch with each other in early adulthood and then reconnected. Cassandra died from cancer several years later. Before her death, Felicia promised Cassandra she would take care of her sister's 10 children, in addition to the four of her own.
Jackson fulfilled her promise to keep the children together, but it wasn't easy. They moved from one rental residence to another, trying to find an adequately priced place that would satisfy the space needed for a large family.
"I am just overwhelmed with joy to see Felicia and her children in their own home," said Cuvator H. Armstrong, a real estate agent who spent more than two years trying to locate a suitable place for the family.
"I don't know how many days I spent with her," said Armstrong, of Silvia International Realty. "We always got turned down and we knew it was because she had 14 children."
By an unlikely coincidence, the site chosen for the Jacksons' new home is located in the Jerusalem Church Terrace neighborhood, near where Jackson and her sister grew up. Her sister is buried across the street from Jackson's house.
"My sister is right there with me," Jackson said. "It's like she's living there with us."
The Jackson family had been living in a hotel for several months when they learned that they had been chosen for "Extreme Makeover." Eric Kuhn of North Potomac, who taught several of the children at Kingsview Middle School, and several community organizations peppered the show's producers with letters urging them to consider the family. He described the experience of helping the Jacksons realize their dream as the most rewarding experience in his 29 years as a teacher.
"They're a great family. Short of my own family, they're one of the best," said Kuhn, now a teacher at Lakelands Park Middle School.
Jackson said the house had made an enormous difference for her children, now that they no longer face the stress of frequent moving.
"This has put a smile on my children's faces I didn't know they had," she said. "They're having fun being kids like they need to be."
