CHARLOTTE — We told you last week when someone spray-painted swastikas and slurs on a Jewish woman’s west Charlotte home -- now, a moment of hope and light ahead of the first night of Hannukah.
A local contractor saw Channel 9 reporter Almiya White’s story and took on the task to bring one homeowner a holiday miracle.
[ PREVIOUS COVERAGE >> Woman terrified after someone spray-painted hateful messaging on home ]
On the doorstep of Deborah McCullough’s home is a sign that Christmas, indeed, came early.
“It’s a bad sight to see, you know, and then it’s always going to be a reminder as long as it’s there -- I’m here to make all that go away,” said Patrick King, the owner of King’s Touch Lawncare and Home Improvement.
King loaded up his truck on Christmas Eve with tools to remove a 24-day-long stain splattered on McCullough’s home.
“It’s such a blessing, because living like that every day is awful to come home to that and see that hatred on my wall,” McCullough told White.
She reported to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department that someone vandalized her home with swastikas, and homophobic and racist slurs. She told White she was having panic attacks because of the incident.
Her story caught King’s attention.
“How cruel some people can be, you know, just to damage somebody else’s property is terrible. You know, it’s just bad,” King said.
King stepped in to remove the graffiti and get McCullough’s home back to normal for the holiday season.
“I’ll be putting a goop remover on there and basically scrubbing it and then going behind it with a power washer,” King said.
“He’s taking time before out of his family to come help me, which is, you know, more than I could ask anybody to do,” McCullough said.
With the hateful messages gone, McCullough says her house feels like a home again.
“Back to our home, the place we’ve lived for 15 years, you know, without seeing hatred all over the place -- that’ll be amazing for us,” she said.
As Hanukkah starts this week, McCullough wants to remind people to embrace others, especially through our differences.
(VIDEO: Juveniles accused of racist graffiti at Belmont comic store)
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