HOT SPRINGS – Earlier this spring, when Sayer Lockhart of Hot Springs first began planning for her upcoming “Help Save My Childhood Home Fundraiser” slated for Centennial Park on Saturday, Sept. 6, she said the struggles to get it off the ground were similar to when she started her own photography business – Sayer JaDin Photography – in 2018, at just 18 years old.
“When I first started my photography business, nobody believed in it,” Lockhart said, as she recalled people telling her, ‘You can’t be successful unless you go to college.’
“I feel like chasing any dream can be lonely – especially without a family. I kept telling myself, ‘Even if nobody comes and donates, then what if I just stand for like 10 seconds in the middle of the day to look around the park at 50 people who believe in the same dream I do? Maybe that will be the motivation I need to save the house.”
While there is a lot of excitement for it now, initially, she said she did get some negative responses from a few people who didn’t yet fully understand her intentions for hosting an event entitled “Help Save My Childhood Home,” even though the concept itself for a fundraiser to save a childhood home is not necessarily new.
According to Lockhart, who lost both of her parents to cancer at a young age, there are many stories online of other young adults like her in similar situations, where the death of parents or other loved ones have left them in difficult situations that make saving their childhood home a high priority. Sometimes it was mortgage related, but oftentimes, which is the case for Lockhart, it is trying to save their lifelong home from needing to be torn down due to disrepair. Through her online research, she said she learned she actually isn’t alone and there are many other people who are struggling with the same thing.
When considering her options to help raise the needed funds, she could have tried to simply set up a GoFundMe page or plan for a somewhat smaller event featuring just a silent auction and a single live band, which is often the case for such events. Instead, Lockhart is going big – actually, very big – with a goal of not only raising funds, but also of giving back, to create an event for the community which honors both of her parents with specific events to showcase their individual passions.
How she got here
Sayer has lived in Hot Springs her entire life. Her parents, Clint and Kaylea Lockhart, actually met in Arizona but settled in Fall River County after they got married and purchased some land from Clint’s dad Dale, to build a home just outside of town.
When Sayer was in the fourth grade, her mom was diagnosed with cancer, and after a three-year battle, she died from the disease in 2012. Her dad Clint then became a single parent, and six years later, he also got very sick.
“He was very anti-hospitals. After you watch your spouse go through it, I assume he probably knew what it was but, you know...” said Sayer, as she shrugged and acknowledged her dad’s decision to not seek medical attention to fight the cancer growing inside of his body. “I would have technically been an adult, but I grew up pretty fast when he got sick.”
Despite attending classes at the Hot Springs public school from kindergarten through her freshman year, Sayer and her dad chose homeschooling for the rest of her high school years. She eventually graduated a year earlier than originally planned.
“In 2017, after I graduated, my dad asked me to stay in Hot Springs and live at home since I was still a minor. Then, in February 2020, when he got very sick, I became his caregiver,” Sayer said.
Because of her dad’s declining health, and her dual role of not only being her dad’s caregiver but also a young woman trying to start her own business, that is when “the home started to fall apart.”
Upon her father’s death in 2020, Sayer said the home, which she inherited as a third-generation owner, probably should have been torn down at that time. “I was on this mission where I thought, ‘I can save this,’” she said. “But when you’re 20, you don’t know much about life yet and you trust the recommendations from friends. So I hired the first person they suggested to me.”
Unfortunately,however,Sayer said the contractors whom she hired to do the work ended up doing more damage to the home. This caused widespread deterioration of the structure and several rounds of attempts to fix the same problems multiple times.
Thankfully, she was able to eventually get in touch with Jace Thomas at Black Hills Exteriors who did recently put a new roof on the one level, three-bedroom home. But, there is still a dire need to fix the damages caused from the previous contractors.
What’s next?
Both of Sayer’s parents were local businesses owners, so she was raised with an entrepreneurial spirit where obstacles and setbacks are a reality of the process, but hard work and determination are always rewarded.
Her dad, in addition to working for the Fall River Water Users District later in his life, also owned and operated an ice vending company, Ice Kold Ice. Her mom at one time operated the Bering Apartments in downtown Hot Springs as well as the Dew Drop Inn on the north end of town. Her grandpa Dale owned a mobile home moving company as well as the former A&W restaurant. Her grandparents, including Shelly Lockhart, together also owned Lockhart Trailer Court along the bypass.
Sayer said her grandfather, Dale, was the one who helped her navigate life after losing her dad and encouraged her to pursue her dream of saving the family home.
This past March, when trying to grow her photography business while also trying to save her family’s home, Sayer recalls “hitting a wall” but then getting a boost from a friend.
“Jarret Weimer was the one who said, ‘I think you should try doing a fundraiser and I will help with entertainment.”
Sayer said she had just tried doing a garage sale to raise funds, and the thought of trying to do a bigger event just didn’t sound like something she wanted to try and tackle at the time. But Jarrett told her that the whole community had always been behind her, ever since she was in school, and he thought that they would once again show up and show support for her fundraiser.
After discussing it with more of her close friends, she agreed with Weimer’s suggestion and decided to move forward. “I wanted this to be a ‘memory-making event’ for the community, especially because that’s what my dad was all about; bringing people together and creating memories. What started as a small idea with live music and a little silent auction planned in just two weeks has, two and half months later, grown into something so much bigger – a full community event.”
After praying for guidance in planning the event, Sayer said she woke up the next morning with several ideas — ones that would both honor her parents and bring joy to the community.
Her dad loved pies. “We always had dessert first,” Sayer said, so included with next weekend’s event is a pie contest, as well as a cornhole competition, because her family often played cornhole in their yard. There is also a car show planned because her dad loved classic cars and owned an old truck himself. And a taco truck, because her mom loved Mexican food. In addition, as a local business owner herself, Sayer wants this fundraising effort to also support other local businesses, so she is encouraging anyone who wants to donate to the effort to purchase local gift cards and certificates to be included in the silent auction.
Sayer said her decision to become a professional photographer was influenced by her mom’s death.
“The reason I became a photographer is because there are no photos of me and my mom,” Sayer said. “When she got sick, she didn’t feel comfortable with the way she looked anymore, so she stopped letting people take pictures. When she passed away, I was just 12 years old, and the hardest realization was that I had nothing to look back on. That’s when I promised myself, ‘One day, I’m going to do something to help families not experience the same thing.’ What began as something to fill the in-between time after graduating high school early quickly turned into a full-time career, one I’ve fallen in love with because of my story.”
Despite the sadness behind the inspiration for the fundraiser, Sayer said she is motivated to create a fair-like, uplifting atmosphere—something the community can view as ‘turning something really hard into something positive.’ She hopes to grow it into an annual, family-oriented event called the “Home Roots Fundraiser” that both honors her parents and brings the community together for a day of fun in her hometown of Hot Springs, while also raising money to help others in similar situations.
With the funds she hopes to raise during the fair, she already has some trustworthy and knowledgeable contractors lined up to start work on the most necessary issues.
On the event’s Facebook page, titled “Help Save My Childhood Home – Sayer Lockhart,” she says, “This isn’t just about a house— it’s about holding onto legacy, trusting God’s timing, and believing in what happens when people show up for each other.”
Below is the schedule of events, but more detailed information is available at the aforementioned Facebook page, where you will find updates, donation opportunities and ways to get involved.
In addition, Sayer also shared that there will be a “legacy wall,” where names are added as people purchase one of the bracelets she is selling. In addition, a video will play between band performances, featuring photos of her family. “I know many people don’t know me or my parents, so this was my way of showing them exactly what—and who—they are supporting,” she said. “I never expected this, but the most healing part of organizing the fundraiser has been getting to share all the wonderful things about my dad.”