In Idaho, the house that Jack built (figuratively) saves lives (literally) (2024)

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EAGLE, Idaho — See Jack run track. See Jack throw the shot put. See Jack, a teenager in this small city in the foothills of Boise, win an award from the mayors of his county for service and inspiration to the community.

But even more inspiring is the simple beauty of this: See Jack grow up.

That was anything but a given, back in 2014, when he was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor called craniopharyngioma that was compressing his optic nerve. Sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as a best chance for survival, Jack had surgery and several rounds of proton therapy. Now he’s approaching his 15th birthday, and living a full, all-out life.

He’s also the face of the Idaho St. Jude Dream Home® Giveaway. More than that, he’s an embodiment of the cause.

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For Joe Atalla and Jenna Englund, co-founders of Berkeley Building Co., and partners with St. Jude for seven years, it’s a chance to see a flesh-and-blood example of the lifesaving work they’re supporting.

“That really brings it home,” said Joe. “We're raising this money, St. Jude is able to do the research and use this technology, and then you meet the person on the other side who actually received that treatment and is now growing into a man because of what they were able to do for him.

“It's so cool to see him grow up, the coolest thing.”

Years ago, Joe and Jenna toured St. Jude and saw the proton beam that was so important to so many sick kids. Then they saw the real-world impact of the proton beam when they met Jack, and suddenly their work had even more meaning. It was even more personal.

Maybe that’s a reason the Idaho home giveaway is such a success, even by national standards. By Joe’s recollection, 5,777 tickets were sold the first year Berkeley Building was involved. This year, it was more than 17,000.

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The Boise-area real estate market is one of the nation’s hottest, but there’s more at work here. There’s also a true community love for the cause, despite the St. Jude campus in Memphis being some 1,800 miles from what’s known as Idaho’s Treasure Valley. People here know St. Jude does good in Idaho because they can see it, in Jack’s smiling face.

“Tickets are selling out before anyone even has a chance to see the house,” said Joe. “We'd love to think they're doing it because they love the house, but the reality is they're doing it for St. Jude.”

Support for St. Jude in the Treasure Valley probably stems from as many individual reasons as there are, well, people flocking to the area. For Jenna, it flows from her own personal experience.

“My daughter didn't go to St. Jude because that's not the type of illness she has,” she said, “but I know what it's like as a parent to know your child has something they could die from, what that feels like.”

Jenna’s daughter has heterotaxy syndrome. She’s had multiple open heart surgeries, is pacemaker-dependent and wasn’t expected to live through birth. She’s now 10. “I know what it's like when you're trying to figure out how to manage travel for treatment, places to stay while you're there, and the expenses involved with that, and so the fact that St. Jude alleviates those concerns for families, knowing what it's like on the other side, it's really a motivating factor.”

What resonates for Joe is a little more ineffable. It has something to do with what drew him to architecture: building a tangible legacy, feeling part of a concrete (no building pun intended) accomplishment. As a home builder, this means — for Jenna, too — creating a space to hold lives, families, memories, moments. All the emotional touchpoints of, say, the house you grew up in, or the first one you shared with your spouse.

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“A home is more than just the square feet,” Joe said. “It's not the bricks and sticks at the end of the day. It's more than just the structure that's there, it's the people that have called it home. It all ties together the same for St. Jude — we're creating something for all those St. Jude families. The St. Jude Dream Home, at the end of the day, it's not just a house.”

It’s the people who live there, the life they make together. It’s families. It’s kids, like Jack, running and playing, living life and growing up.

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In Idaho, the house that Jack built (figuratively) saves lives (literally) (2024)

FAQs

What is the message of the house that Jack built? ›

Throughout the film Jack makes various attempts to design and build a house all that end up failing. The only house that Jack ever ends up building is a house made up of dead women. This narrative arc shows the pernicious side of how having, even a relatively, minor ambition can become sinister when it is unfulfilled.

What does Jack have in the house that Jack built? ›

Virg reminds Jack that he never built the home he intended to, as he had made several attempts to build his perfect house between his murders. In the freezer, he arranges the frozen corpses he has collected over the years into the shape of a house.

What does The House That Jack Built symbolize? ›

He used nature as a metaphor when dealing with human beings, because to him, humanity was at times too fragile and in order to keep a balance in nature, someone has to be the hunter and someone has to be the prey. Likewise, he viewed his victims as the lamb and himself as the tiger.

What is the meaning of the poem "The House That Jack Built"? ›

It is a cumulative tale that does not tell the story of Jack's house, or even of Jack who built the house, but instead shows how the house is indirectly linked to other things and people, and through this method tells the story of "The man all tattered and torn", and the "Maiden all forlorn", as well as other smaller ...

What killer is The House That Jack Built based on? ›

Dillon based his performance as Jack in part upon the late real-life serial killer Ted Bundy. Jack suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, which was the reason he kept going back into Claire's house to clean imagined blood that wasn't there for fear of being caught.

What are the themes of The House That Jack Built? ›

Toxic masculinity, patriarchal norms, and how Jack, who has a true God-complex, relates to women are key themes in THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.

What does Verge represent in The House That Jack Built? ›

Verge on the other hand is an angel of death and focuses on providing an introspective look at Jack. As Jack's journey into hell continues the similarities become clear. Dante and Jack both have a high level of respect for their guides and are immensely curious about hell which helps to develop the narrative symmetry.

What is the main idea of the house that Jane built? ›

This is the story of Jane Addams, the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, who transformed a poor neighborhood in Chicago by opening up her house as a community center. Ever since she was a little girl, Jane Addams hoped to help people in need.

What is the moral of the movie The House? ›

Soon the family is living in the luxurious house, but they get so wrapped up in their surroundings that they don't notice anything or anyone, even when things take a turn for the worse. The takeaway, according to De Swaef, is that people look to material things to satisfy them but still aren't happy.

What is the message behind the house? ›

While there are many borderline supernatural events that occur throughout the short, the message throughout remains very human: A house is just a house without love. A home is something far more valuable. The chase for wealth and social status led by insecurity and a deep desire for outside validation is a lonely one.

What is the theme of the house that Lou built? ›

Lou's building a tiny house parallels her inner journey of finding confidence, and of realizing that “home” is where she can always be her true self. Your main character, Cora, also longs for a space of her own, though she wants this for her whole family since she, her mother, and her sister are homeless.

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