History of Jacob's House
Jacob Andrew Nelson was born on October 11, 1982 and passed on to heaven on October 22, 2006 as a result of a traffic accident. In the 24 years that Jacob was here on earth, his love for people and his family defined who he was as a person. He had a positive effect on more people than most of us have in a lifetime. In May 2002, Jacob spoke to 200 young people and told t
h
em that there will be fences that we all will run into in this life, however, if we don’t give up, we have the ability to get through any trial or tragedy that we will face. Seven days following this traffic accident, Shawn Nelson, Jacob’s father and Temecula’s City Manager, was scheduled to speak at a fund raising event to benefit the Ronald McDonald House in Loma Linda. Although he was reluctant to attend this pre-scheduled event, he felt God leading him to go. He went and shared with 1,500 people the wonderful story of his daughter, Jennifer, who had been in a nearly fatal traffic accident 10 years earlier, and how his family was able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House in Loma Linda, which meant so much to the Nelson family. Shawn then spoke of the tragedy that had just occurred to their only son Jacob seven days earlier. After going through both situations, first with Jennifer, where they had a Ronald McDonald House, and then with Jacob, where there was no such facility, Shawn finished by stating "We need to build a Ronald McDonald House in Temecula!!"
Three weeks later, a group of developers and a non-profit foundation began to work to bring a Ronald McDonald House to Temecula as a result of his speech. They soon learned, however, that a Ronald McDonald House could not be built in Temecula because there was no associated Children’s Hospital. Days later, in December 2006, plans were revised to build a house that would meet the needs of all age groups and serve the needs in the Temecula Valley region. It was then proposed to the Nelson family that the new house be named Jacob’s House, after the beloved son who had had such a positive influence on so many young people in our valley. While it may never be understood why Jacob ran into his final fence at such a young age, his message of hope and comfort will reach out to so many families for years to come as they are cared for in Jacob’s House, and will assist them through their trials and tragedies. Donate
Remember, the world is changed one life at a time.
