WATERLOO -- Two years ago, Rebecca Damewood and the seven people living with her celebrated their selection for a complete home makeover. The good fortune was a gift from a new organization called Operation Renovation.

A year ago, Damewood and her family still hadn't seen much progress, but they got excited again when told Operation Renovation would build them a new home.

Now, Damewood stops just short of saying yes when asked whether she wishes she had never won the contest in the first place.

"I am glad they fixed the well," she says.

The mother of three doesn't want to sound ungrateful. She knows everyone involved with the project had the best intentions, but the original time frame suggested was "before this winter" -- and a third is on the horizon with little work completed on her home.

Damewood's patience is wearing thin.

Her house had some obvious problems when Operation Renovation pulled up on her front lawn in October 2005, but from the outside the structure was presentable. In fact, Damewood's property was often called into service for family get-togethers.

Damewood and her family now must walk to their front door across wooden planks where a deck once stood. Her children, ages 9, 7 and 2, often play alongside a 6-foot dropoff, the start of an unfinished addition, or near a wood pile replete with rusty nails. Two pallets of shingles lay covered in plastic on the driveway. And nearly $9,000 worth of cabinets occupy the garage where Damewood's truck used to rest at night.

Damewood doesn't know why the process has taken so long, but a lack of coordination and communication -- tethered to bad luck and inexperience -- are the likely culprits.

Lisa Downing started Operation Renovation in 2005 after reading Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life." Having experience in home remodeling, she decided to start an organization to help impoverished families improve their living conditions. The idea stemmed from ABC's hit television show, "Extreme Home Makeover."

Downing began lining up sponsors and taking applications for Operation Renovation. Eventually, she chose Damewood, who at the time had recently undergone two abdominal surgeries following the birth to her son, Ruben.

With sponsors rolling in, Downing made the announcement Oct. 5, 2005, that Damewood was the winner. Work was supposed to begin by Nov. 5, though at the time Downing said the group still needed certain items donated.

Stalled

No remodeling work was completed that fall. Downing says she did not account for the cost or time needed to get building permits and follow building codes. She also says she wasn't accustomed to working with contractors and their difficult schedules.

Finally, most of the donations came in the form of materials and commitments of labor, but Downing didn't have anywhere to store the items and had to ask businesses to hold their contributions until Operation Renovation was ready.

But 2006 brought the promise of a new beginning. Fouts Construction of Cedar Falls was originally brought in to install cabinets and perform work on the house's leaky basement. However, when Fouts Construction determined that adding bedrooms in the basement would be impossible, the company offered a different strategy -- build a new home.

According to Downing, Fouts Construction took on a larger role in the project and offered to help raise up to $30,000 the company estimated would be needed to build the house. Fouts Construction lined up different companies for electrical, plumbing and heating installation than Downing had originally approached, meaning the first group wasn't obligated to fulfill its commitments.

After the snow melted and a new series of donations began to come in, organizers determined the house would cost at least $10,000 more than original projections.

Details of what happened next are incomplete. Downing said the relationship between her and Fouts Construction eroded, and the company pulled out -- as did two other companies Fouts had brought on board to handle the electrical, plumbing and heating work.

Jamie Fouts of Fouts Construction declined to comment. Rich Fisher of All Star Heating and Plumbing -- one of the companies lined up by Fouts Construction -- said he never had direct contact with Downing.

Downing said the whole episode set back her plans by more than a year. She had trouble getting original sponsors back on board. Some of the building materials donated for the new house could be used to create an addition on the existing structure, but that required additional contributions from contractors, who could only donate hours in their spare time.

A few sponsors were able to fulfill their commitments. Dave Martinson of Martinson Construction waterproofed the basement and installed basement windows. Omega Cabinets donated the expensive cabinets, though they could easily be ruined in Damewood's garage.

Kugler Construction tore down Damewood's chimney. Ehrenman Construction designed the addition. Greiner Well Drilling fixed the well and installed a new pump. Happel Landscaping dug the basement. Dalton Plumbing and Heating donated and installed a sump pump. ABC Supply company donated the shingles, and several other companies made small cash contributions.

But the project is far from complete.

Downing says the two biggest bottlenecks are framing the addition and installing cabinets. Like knocking down a row of dominos, nothing else can happen until those two steps are done, she says.

But getting the dominos in a row has been the problem all along.

Damewood's sister and her sister's children have since moved out. The living situation, though, is still barely tolerable for the four people who remain.

Damewood teeters between being grateful and the need to press for progress.

"I feel like a horrible, rotten person for complaining about this," Damewood says. "But it's been two very long years."

The project's Web site is at www.operation-renovation.com. Volunteers and sponsors can make donations by contacting the organization at makeover@operation-renovation.com.

Contact Drew Andersen at (319) 291-1418 or drew.andersen@wcfcourier.com.