Building Hope: A New Home for Ryder Johnson

On the outskirts of Saltillo, an extraordinary act of kindness is unfolding. A faith-based organization, Hope With A Hammer, is building a house for four-year-old Ryder Johnson, a little boy with an ultra-rare genetic condition called Xq23 Deletion. With only about 11 known cases in the United States, Ryder’s condition presents numerous medical challenges, including muscle development delays, temperature regulation issues, and hearing and vision impairments. Despite these obstacles, he has made remarkable progress, recently taking his first steps.

Ryder Johnson, age 4.

A Mission of Compassion

Hope With A Hammer, led by director Peter Boros, has built 15 homes over the past five years for families in need. Based out of Rio Central Church in Maryville, Tennessee, the organization also undertakes global outreach projects, including disaster relief efforts and the construction of churches and kitchens for special needs schools. Their latest mission brought them to Campbellsburg, Indiana, where Ryder and his family—father Hunter Johnson, mother Chelsea, older brother Jalen, and grandmother—live in a decades-old single-wide trailer.

The Johnson's current home, within view of the construction project.

“We always try to pick families who have no insurance or have no other ways to put their funds together,” said Boros, who went on to explain that with Ryder’s condition, it’s vital for him to live in a place where temperature control is stable and clean water is available. “We just want to make sure that the house is insulated, and that the water’s clean. They currently have a shallow well, so their water comes out mucky and gray… now, they’re going to have clean city water.”

A Community Comes Together

Hope With A Hammer has seen an outpouring of generosity from Campbellsburg, Salem, and beyond. Donations have poured in from individuals, churches, and businesses, covering major construction materials. The roofing, flooring (valued at $6,000), concrete slab, septic system, windows, and doors have all been donated. When it’s all said and done, Boros estimates that the value of the material in the house alone will equal over $120,000.

The organization builds homes in three phases. They laid the foundation last summer, and now, volunteers are rapidly framing the structure, installing rough-in utilities, siding, and the roof. The final phase will complete the interior, making the house move-in ready. “So far this project has been contingent upon finances,” Boros explained. “So as soon as we have enough money, we’ll buy the materials, come out, finish it, and hand it over to the family. ”

The new house, under construction.

A Father’s Gratitude

For Ryder’s father, Hunter Johnson, an officer with the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, the new home is a life-changing gift.

“The community of Campbellsburg and Washington County has done fundraising for us and raised us quite a bit of money,” Johnson shared. “A lot of the officers I work with donated money as well. We’ve just got support from everywhere, it seems like. And these guys — It was incredible how fast they did the slab the first time they came, and here we are on the second day of (framing) and they’ve already got all four exterior walls up. And they’re doing a really big porch for Ryder, which is awesome, because he loves to be outside, but he can’t get too hot. It’s incredible.”

Johnson reflected on the overwhelming kindness they’ve experienced: “We’ve been scrambling trying to figure out how we were going to get these boys a bigger home, because that trailer’s tiny. And then these guys just appeared and took care of all that for us,” he said with tears in his eyes. “It’s a really amazing group of people, and we’re truly blessed to have them and to have this community. They came up and took care of us when we needed it, and took care of Ryder, so I’m eternally grateful to everybody. I could say thank you everyday, and I still wouldn’t be able to thank everyone that’s been part of this.”

Faith in Action

Hope With A Hammer operates with a strong faith-driven mission, believing in demonstrating the love of Christ through service. “We don’t care if they’re Christians or not,” Boros explained. “Our actions show that Jesus is real. And we don’t take any overhead out of the money that’s donated. If someone donates $100, it’s going to buy $100 worth of materials. It’s a huge body-of-Christ thing, and when the house is built, the family will always know that Jesus didn’t forget about them.”

Volunteers come from all walks of life, from contractors to ex-drug addicts to people on parole. “It’s not just typical parishioners,” Boros said. “It’s the ushers, the dads, the people who will never touch a microphone in church. This gives them an ability to use their talents and their gifts to do something greater than themselves.”

Some volunteers assemble an interior wall before standing it up.

A Brighter Future

As the home nears completion, Ryder’s family looks forward to a future with space, safety, and stability. Thanks to the unwavering support of Hope With A Hammer and the local community, Ryder will grow up in a home designed to meet his needs.

For those who wish to help, donations can be made at www.hopewithahammer.org/current-projects, or volunteers can show up at 5306 N. Saltillo-Bono Road any day until Friday, March 28th.

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