Prayers And Dreams Come True For South Side Church That Needed Help Paying For Major Repairs

CHICAGO (CBS) -- $18,000 - that's how much a struggling South Chicago church has raised since they came to us with their pleas for repairs.

Morning Insider Tim McNicholas follows up to show us the impact of those donations.

For the pastors at Trinity Resurrection United Church, the sounds of construction work aren't just a dream come true, they're an answered prayer.

"The more we see, the more we thank God," said Rev. Charles Davis, senior pastor at Trinity Resurrection.

"If it had not been for CBS, I am telling you, my God," said his daughter, Minister Shirley Davis.

In September, we showed you their missing ceiling tiles, loose floor tiles, and the door about to fall off entirely.

We showed you how 98-year-old Charles Davis is not just the senior pastor but the senior handyman.

And his daughter, Pastor Shirley Davis, shared her struggles to find donations for repairs.

"They don't pay you any attention, and I can't be a Joel Osteen, and pick up that phone, and bam there it is. Naw, that's not gonna happen here," Shirley said.

Well, guess who called after that first story aired?

Pastor Joel Osteen's church in Texas gave thousands to that tiny South Side church.

CBS 2 viewers and local churches donated too, including New Covenant Missionary Baptist and Victory Apostolic Church.

"I want somebody to wake me up, because this, in my mind, when I look at it, I have to be dreaming," Shirley said.

And a repair company agreed to fix the ceiling tiles, the bathroom floor, and the broken door for free.

"We wanna thank God for Channel 2 news; for God using Channel 2 news to get the news out," Charles said.

The donations were enough for their most pressing need: a new parking lot. Their uneven gravel lot has caused major problems for the church's weekly food drives.

"So now in the wintertime those deliveries can come all the way up to the building, sit those pallets down, and we can get the food in to help people," Shirley said.

The lot will be paved just in time for their big Thanksgiving turkey giveaway, and this year the Davises are especially thankful.