Press Release

The Schrauger Home Project Halfway to Goal in One Week

Waterford, MI – Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson today said more than 50 percent of the goods and services needed to build a new home for a Lake Orion couple who lost two sons in a fatal traffic accident and have a third son who was injured in Iraq have been donated.

“I’m overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for the Schrauger family, especially in just a week,” Patterson said. “I can’t thank enough the businesses and individuals who have stepped forward to help this family through their trying days.”

On Oct. 30, Patterson announced the creation of “The Schrauger Home Project,” which assembled a group of concerned business owners and citizens to build a home for Cliff and Vicki Schrauger of Lake Orion. Two of their sons, Joshua, 17, and Timothy, 14, were killed in a traffic accident in Clinton County on Sept. 29. The brothers were on their way to meet some friends at a sesquicentennial farm where an annual party was taking place. Both boys were students at Lake Orion High School.

A third son, David, 24, is a U.S. Army specialist who was seriously injured on Father’s Day when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle. He suffered, leg, arm, spine and lung injuries and has undergone multiple surgeries. More surgeries are planned.

The Schraugers also lost their home to foreclosure several months ago. The goal of the effort is to get the family in the new home in six months, mortgage free. No taxpayer money is being used to build the home.

Clarkston builder Forrest Milzow is heading up construction on the project. Patterson is hoping that ground will be broken for the basement before the end of the year.

Those who are interested in donating goods or services can go to a website created for the project: www.oakgov.com/house. The site includes a registry of items needed to complete the project such as lumber, bricks, concrete, excavation, plumbing and windows. The site also suggests others ways to help. The site is updated as donations of goods and services are made. The donors’ names are also listed unless they wish to remain anonymous.

The Oakland County site also links to a website created by the Community Bible Church in Waterford to accept donations for the family. Contributions made through the church allow them to be considered a charitable write-off for tax purposes.

Cliff Schrauger, who is a minister, said his family is overwhelmed by the love and support the community has shown his family. Besides David, the couple has another son, Stephen, who is a student at Saginaw Valley State University, and a daughter, Kristina, who is a school teacher in North Carolina.

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