Tyler Perry was out of the country when a friend who is a pastor sent him a recent story published by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about Dorothy and George Williams.
The elderly couple was displaced from their southwest Atlanta home for years after a contractor who promised to do some repairs stripped the inside and disappeared with their money.
The Williams’ family has been scrambling for help after their home was rendered unlivable with no heat, plumbing or running water — and their savings depleted.
The media mogul told the AJC that he felt compelled to act after reading the account of how the family was allegedly scammed out of their home. Not long after the story posted on July 3, Perry was on the phone with Dorothy Williams.
“She started praising God, she couldn’t even get a word out for a while, because that’s how desperate she was,” Perry recalled. “And she had been in and out of hospital because of the stress from what this person did.”
“I’m definitely going to make sure they are OK,” Perry said.
Dorothy remembers the call well, too. The prominent Atlanta businessman told her not to shed another tear, she said.
“It was like God had come down and answered my prayer — it was just so much joy,” Dorothy Williams said. “And Tyler Perry said: ‘Calm down, take a deep breath you don’t have to worry anymore. I’m going to pay for everything.’”
Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
Dorothy and her husband George have been living in stark conditions since early 2022 when they entered into an agreement with contractor Steven Chastain and a home restoration company named HomeSmart Services.
Chastain showed up on the Williams’ doorstep randomly one afternoon and, after inspection, said he could make repairs to the home for $147,000. The couple agreed, took out a hefty loan and cut him the first in a series of checks so he would get to work.
He and his team removed sheetrock, insulation and the ceiling without obtaining a permit from the city. Then with $60,000 in his pocket, he left and never returned to finish the job.
State and local authorities have documented other instances in which Chastain has taken advantage of homeowners looking to repair damage from calamities of all kinds — severe storms to house fires.
Just this year in Gwinnett County, Chastain was found guilty of two counts of theft by conversion and four counts of theft by deception after stealing insurance funds from a couple who lost their home in a 2019 fire.
Neither Chastain nor his attorney, Tracy Drake, has responded to multiple requests for comment.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
There has been an outpouring of support for the couple since the AJC story ran. Over 100 people recently donated to their GoFundMe. And, according to the family, Perry is covering all the home repairs and the $100,000-plus loan they took out to pay Chastain.
The filmmaker’s team has since been coordinating with the city on permitting and overseeing construction.
“It’s all been pretty crazy,” Cameron Franklin, Dorothy’s grandson, said of the community’s response after the article was posted.
Just weeks ago, Dorothy said she didn’t recognize her home of four decades that she moved into in 1983.
Today, walls are beginning to be rebuilt, plumbing restored and even old features of the home brought back to life. The original fireplace is being converted into a China cabinet to hold family heirlooms passed down to Dorothy from her mother.
On Thursday, Tyler Perry’s contractor and an inspector said Dorothy and George won’t have to wait too long before they’re back home — as little as a couple of months.
“Because of that article, things changed,” Dorothy said. “I can feel free now, in my last days I can enjoy my life.”
Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
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