Click to enlarge photos.

POWDER SPRINGS - It's called the Hope House. The tan-colored, two-bedroom ranch house on Austell-Powder Springs Road doesn't look different from others nearby, unless you consider the wheelchair ramp. The well-trimmed lawn is rimmed with chain-link fencing.

But it's what's on the inside that counts.

Connie and Randall Bullock, of Powder Springs, inherited the house when Randall's mother died about eight years ago. For a while, their daughter lived there. In 2005, a couple they knew were driving back and forth to Atlanta hospitals so their daughter could be treated for cancer. The Bullocks realized the house could serve as a home away from home for families in similar situations, and the nonprofit Bullock Foundation was born.

"We wanted to use the house to give families a home-atmosphere place to stay while a child is undergoing treatment," Connie Bullock said. The foundation coordinates with social workers at various hospitals in the area, including the two WellStar sites and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

Hope House had its first resident last May. Tyler Harrell, 4, and his grandmother Wanda, of Dothan, Ala., are its first long-term residents. They arrived in February, and will stay at least through April.

"I don't know what we would do without these people," Ms. Harrell said.

Last July, a car accident put Tyler in a coma for two months. Doctors didn't think he would live, Ms. Harrell said. He suffered brain and nerve damage in the accident.

But Tyler, whose nickname is "Superman," surprised everyone.

In February, he began rehabilitation at Children's Hospital of Atlanta at Egleston. He "has to relearn everything," including how to walk, Ms. Harrell said. It's still about an hour's drive from the house to hospital, but it beats commuting from Alabama.

Five days a week, Tyler undergoes three hours of speech, physical and occupational therapy.

Volunteers are making sure the pair have what they need while they're in Powder Springs. A local ambulance company, Puckett EMS, built a wheelchair ramp for the house. Tyler uses the wheelchair most of the time, but can walk with help.

"He's been a little blessing," Ms. Harrell said. "I've not left his side."

The Hope House has helped make that possible. She said she feels like she simply thinks of a need, and someone from the community is knocking at the door to meet it.

"I've not been alone since I've been here. I have a family here," she said. Tyler's parents, Georgia and Ricky Harrell, are back in Dothan taking care of his brothers, Ricky, 7, and Jacob, 1, and three cousins who live with them.

Local community volunteers, including members of the Powder Springs Business Association and residents of the active-adult Silver Springs Village, bring Tyler games and crafts. The kitchen stays stocked with food, and a cleaning service comes twice a week.

R.J. Patel, chairman of the Bullock Foundation's board, said Hope House reduces stress for residents in an already stressful time.

"This is really free for them, no charge," he said.

Sowmya Garton, a social worker at Children's, said the Hope House allows the family to escape from the hospital atmosphere at the end of a long day of therapy.

"These families are far way from home, and they need a place that makes them feel at home," she said. "It gives them their own space where the child can play in the yard and just be a kid."

Many families undergoing therapy at Children's stay at the Ronald McDonald House near the hospital, but that stays full, Ms. Garton said. She discovered Hope House while searching for alternatives for the Harrells.

"It's worked out to be a fantastic match," she said.

ahungerford@mdjonline.com

Comment on this Story

Type your comment here...comments are reviewed before they are posted, and therefore they do not post immediately.

Please enter the validation words. If you cannot read them, you may obtain a fresh set of words by hitting the button.