Local family building home with bare hands to adopt five siblings

Ringgold resident Mark Goldsmith and his family are building a five-bedroom, three-bath addition to their home to house five Bulgarian orphans they are in the process of adopting.
Ringgold resident Mark Goldsmith and his family are building a five-bedroom, three-bath addition to their home to house five Bulgarian orphans they are in the process of adopting.

To help

Anyone interested in helping the Goldsmith family can call Mark Goldsmith at 423-310-0881 or email Tisha Goldsmith at ttballard@yahoo.com.

photo This two-story addition to his family home, which Mark Goldsmith hopes to complete soon, is only the first project, he said. In the future, he plans to renovate the existing structure's second floor to expand it for his seven current children and soon-to-be five more.
photo This two-story addition to his family home, which Mark Goldsmith hopes to complete soon, is only the first project, he said. In the future, he plans to renovate the existing structure's second floor to expand it for his seven current children and soon-to-be five more.
photo This two-story addition to his family home, which Mark Goldsmith hopes to complete soon, is only the first project, he said. In the future, he plans to renovate the existing structure's second floor to expand it for his seven current children and soon-to-be five more.

Beam by beam, Mark Goldsmith has spent the better part of the last year building his own home.

Though he had a few days of assistance, the work has largely been a solo affair, he said. But he is quick to add that it has been absolutely worth it - not just for himself, but for his wife, seven children and the five Bulgarian orphans they hope to welcome into the new space later this year.

The project has been years in the making, Goldsmith said. He himself was adopted at a young age, along with his four siblings, and providing the same opportunity to children in need has always been in his and his wife Tisha's family plan.

"My adoption wasn't that dramatic, not like theirs," he said, referencing his five future children, " but it gave [me and my siblings] a leg up that we would have never had. We want to help and we have the ability to help, so why wouldn't you?"

But the road to adoption has been fraught with unexpected hardship.

The Goldsmiths, who live on 3.5 acres in Ringgold where a massive addition is being built onto the existing home, initially signed up to foster through the Catoosa County foster care system.

Tragically, as they began the training courses several years ago, the family lost their then 4-year-old son Cooper in a drowning accident at a hotel pool while out of town. Though he had been wearing a flotation device, he had slipped out of it, unnoticed in the crowded pool, according to the police report, which found no fault with the parents.

In dealing with the sudden loss, the Goldsmiths' desire to help other children - now in memory of their own son - only intensified.

That's when the family connected with a Bulgarian adoption agency and learned of the five siblings.

"We want to help those that need help," Goldsmith said. "And having a big family like ours, we knew we could take on siblings who would otherwise be separated. If you have one or two kids, or no kids, five seems impossible. But for us, it's not nearly such a big change."

To make the dream a reality, he and Tisha have sold additional property that was once their retirement plan. They've applied for grants available to adoptive parents, and he now works evenings and nights at the plumbing company he owns, Cutter Construction, so days can be spent readying the home for the last of the required home studies before the adoption is finalized.

Over the holidays, he received help from three members of the East Hamilton Rotary Club, who heard about the family through a fellow club member.

"He was lifting beams up on his shoulder," said Rotary member and volunteer Dale Rardin. " I'm an architect by trade and I know the difficulty of what he's doing."

Though the five Bulgarianchildren do not speak much English, Goldsmith said his family is more than ready. And since his seven children range from ages 4 to 14 and the Bulgarian siblings range from ages 6 to 13, each will have at least one sibling to pair off with while becoming accustomed to all of the many changes.

"It's about giving them a good home and a place that they can grow good relationships in," he said. "And right now, my kids cover elementary school to high school. There will be a kid there to help each of them in every class, in every way.

"Once you get past three kids, it's never a big deal," he joked. "It's just what we do."

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