ALABASTER, Ala. (WIAT) - On a narrow road in Alabaster is the visible result of a community's compassion.

A home under construction started with students at Thompson High School raising money for a student in need. When the community got involved things really took off. They call it the Josh Effect.

"The Josh Effect is a wave that hit the community. It just comes on out and hits until something like this happens," Jeff Brooks said pointing at the construction sight.

It's a project rooted in a tragedy on Fulton Spring Road in December 2010. That's when Josh Carden's grandfather was struck and killed by a car while crossing the street. He was heading to help Josh, who has Cerebral Palsy, off the school bus.

"God works in mysterious ways. I know that he sent these folks to us. I truely believe that," Josh's grandmother Dorothy Burkett said sitting on the porch of their current, run-down home.

"All these people that came around to help I just can't thank them enough," Josh said stuttering from his wheelchair. His grandmother says the stutter is an effect of the mental trauma from the accident.

They're overjoyed at the progress of the new place especially since it's designed for wheelchairs. The Home Depot Foundation has awarded the group a $20,000 grant for materials.
 
It's all thanks to a community's commitment to help turn tragedy into something that will have a lasting effect.

Click here to learn how to make the home a reality.