A Tennessee man is having a pinch-me moment after Hurricane Helene.
After Incredible Tiny Homes heard that James Gregory lost everything during the devastating hurricane, the Cocke County-based brand gifted the Del Rio man a new home on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
Co-founders Randy Jones and Amanda Hayes told PEOPLE that they found out about Gregory’s need for assistance from a former colleague, who had explained how the man’s GoFundMe was having trouble gaining any financial traction. That’s when they stepped in.
Jones revealed they gifted Gregory, 84, and his seven dogs with an 8-by-20-foot “Incred-I-Box,” their tiny home model that starts at $18,000.
“He was overwhelmed with a sense of relief. He was worried about his dogs and worried about himself,” Hayes, 54, told us, adding that she and Jones, 64, discovered that Gregory has lymphoma cancer.
In an interview with local station WVLT, Gregory reacted to the surprise gift by saying, “Maybe I can live a while longer.”
“I can’t believe it,” he added after receiving his new home with running water. “You need to pinch me to see if I am dreaming.”
Del Rio, a small community 20 miles west of Newport, was left flooded after Hurricane Helene made impact in late September.
“Almost everybody lost everything. It is still a mudslide,” Jones told PEOPLE. He added that while delivering the tiny home to Gregory, they met another man they wanted to help. That’s when Jones and Hayes decided to gift Tony Mosley, “a former fireman in his 50s,” with a tiny home too.
“He’d lost everything — his car, his papers, his wallet, his fifth-wheel RV,” Hayes explained. “He was helping people clean out their homes and clean up all the debris. He was living in a tent on the side of the road.”
84-year-old James Gregory in Del Rio, Tenn.
WVLT
Jones and Hayes started Incredible Tiny Homes 10 years ago in their backyard in Morristown when they were married.
“We just thought it was gonna be a fad, and it wasn’t,” Hayes recalled. “People are so desperate and need these homes. From the backyard beginnings to now being able to give these homes to these two guys and to help other people, the feeling, I can’t even put it into words.”
After receiving his free tiny home, Gregory told the co-founders to promise him something after he eventually dies.
“He said, ‘What I want you to do is when I’m dead and gone, I want you to give this to somebody else.’ And I said, ‘Sir, I sure will,’ ” Jones said. “We’ll put it right where it needs to go. His heart was so thankful, and he’s wanting to give back already. He’s a good guy.”
