Some needs are basic and as old as mankind: Food, clothes, shelter.

This week, we spoke to Jeremy Johnson, a 32-year-old Jasper, Tenn., man who has a leak in the roof of his mobile home. It's not the kind of leak you can catch in a bucket, but a hole big enough to toss a basketball through.

Jeremy and his wife, 35-year-old Kiera Beck, and the couple's 12-year-old daughter, Sophia, were at home on the evening of Dec. 29 when a storm stripped a limb from a tree, Jeremy said. The branch speared the rusted-out roof and rain water began pouring into Sophia's bedroom.

"Dad, there's water dripping from the ceiling," Sophia called.

Jeremy ran to gather buckets and, a few hours later, a family member came over with tarps. It was too dangerous to fix the roof that night. Luckily, the rain soon stopped, which limited the damage.

Now, the leaks are covered by 12-by-20-foot tarps spread across the top of the little house and secured with ground stakes.

"Honestly, it's par for the course," says Jeremy. "Ever since we got married, it seems like we have taken one step forward and two steps back."

Since getting married 10 years ago, Jeremy, a former retail worker and current college student, and Kiera, a doctor's office worker, had lived with family and in a series of rented apartments. The little house in Jasper was purchased with a small sum they received when a family member died. The coupled imagined that owning their own house would give them some financial security — finally.

Jeremy is a South Pittsburg native and Kiera was born in nearby Scottsboro, Ala., he said. He is taking online college courses in computer programming while holding down the fort as a stay-at-home dad. Kiera, a former English major in college, has worked as an office manager at a doctor's office and waited tables in a family restaurant.

Small-town life makes jobs sparse, but they are doing their best to rear Sophia and provide the family's basic needs in a place they call home.

After the roof sprung a leak, Jeremy imagined he could repair it himself. He studied YouTube videos and saw how others had covered holes with sheet metal. Someone suggested putting down a wire mesh — like a door screen — and then covering it with Flexseal, an aerosol coating designed to seal leaks.

Jeremy realized when he climbed up on a ladder that the damage was worse than he thought. There were several holes within a five-foot radius, and the roof was too fragile to support a man's weight.

"Now we sit with a tarp over about a third of our home, and we are hoping for the best," Jeremy said.

He says their biggest fear is that a winter storm will dump heavy snow on their roof and that the tarp will collapse. Or worse yet, that water might seep under the tarp and begin permeating the house.

After consulting a couple of roofing companies, Jeremy determined that a replacement roof with insulation and a warranty would cost about $5,000.

"Unfortunately, at this time, we do not have the funds or the credit to have our roof replaced," Jeremy adds. "My daughter has been moved to a spare bedroom, and thankfully she was unharmed when the roof collapsed."

Jeremy and Kiera took to social media to ask for help for their roof problem. Their GoFundMe crowdfunding page has, so far, raised about $1,450.

"It feels great," Jeremy said. "After last year with all the anger over the election, it has really made me feel great about people in general."

You feel that everywhere. After a bruising political season people seem to be coming back together, and looking for opportunities to help one another.

If you want to see how it feels you can help Jeremy and Kiera by checking out their help page at www.gofundme.com/we-desperately-need-a-new-roof.

"We would appreciate any kind of support," says Jeremy. "If a person can't donate, maybe they can share the [GoFundMe] page on Facebook. The more people who share, the better our chance of getting a roof on this place."

Contact staff writer Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-645-8937.