LISBON, Maine — Desaray Hayes was still recovering from a C-section and caring for her three children earlier this month when she got a text message from her cousin asking for help.
Due to some personal setbacks, the woman and her two sons were living in a car. She wondered if the boys could spend a night on Hayes' couch.
Despite an already crowded household – Hayes, 27, and her boyfriend, Nick Ayer, live with her three children and, on weekends, his two – she didn’t hesitate to say yes.
Three weeks later, the nine-member family is bursting out of their tiny, single-wide mobile home. The boys, ages 11 and 17, are enrolled in Lisbon schools, and Hayes expects they'll stay for a while.
But she credits an overwhelming show of support from the Lisbon community with making a huge difference in the family’s lives.
The two boys arrived with just their phones and a few pieces of clothing in plastic bags – the rest had been pawned by their mom, Hayes said.
Of everything they’d lost, all they wanted were their bikes.
So Desaray posted a request on the Lisbon Community Facebook page… asking if anyone knew of a couple of bicycles … cheap.
Within days, the boys not only had the bikes – they also received clothes, school supplies and free haircuts.
One person asked Hayes to create an Amazon "wish list," and soon socks and underwear were on her front steps.
One local woman provided a bicycle for the younger of the two boys, as well as an iPad. A man originally from Lisbon sent Desaray a check for $1,500. And Tony Lacroix of Northern Chi Martial Arts offered the older teen six months of free martial arts lessons.
The owner of Chummy’s Diner, where Desaray waits tables three days a week, offered the older boy a weekend job washing dishes. Ben Berry also sends Desaray home each day with extra pancakes to feed her household.
The two boys, Hayes says, are still in a bit of shock, but are doing well.
"The 11-year-old is flourishing," Hayes said Monday. "We had his school dance last weekend and we went to K Mart ... so we got everything for him and the school gave us a $5 voucher for him to go in so we didn't have to try to figure out how we were going to do all that."
The older boy is studying graphic design at Region Ten Vocational School and is learning martial arts.
"He comes home and he just wants to talk about it and what he wants to do," Hayes said. "He talks about building his credit."
Both boys have settled in at their new home, and found their place. One entertains Hayes’ boys – and reminds them to clean their room, the other charms her infant daughter and together they wash the dishes every night.
“I’m super impressed with those kids,” she said.
Hayes grew up in Lisbon in a house full of extended family. Still, she said, he mother always made room for more when it was necessary.
“When I was younger, everybody who was having a hard time, they came to our house,” she said. “The door was always open. There was no possible way she could afford that, but somehow she made it happen. She said, ‘It’s not about money, it’s about family.’”
Hayes said her next goal is to find a larger home that will allow each of the sometimes nine residents their own bed.
“They don’t deserve to be sleeping on a couch,” she said of her cousins, “but it’s better than a tent and it’s better than a car.”
Hayes said she never expected to be raising this many kids -- certainly not at 27. She's grateful, and overwhelmed by the support of the community where she grew up.
"People reached out -- I was in tears," she said. "It was like, wow. One day I was like, 'What are we going to do?' ... I've lived in plenty of places -- I moved around a lot when I was younger -- and the outreach was not anything like it was in Lisbon."
A fund to benefit the two boys has been set up at the Lisbon Credit Union. Checks can be mailed to P.O. Box 878, Lisbon, Maine, 04250. They should be made out to Desaray Hayes, with "FBO The Boys" in the memo line.
A Facebook Fundraiser has also been established to benefit the boys.