BOONE—In the parking lot of the Cornerstone Summit Church in Boone, a community from rural Pennsylvania donated their time, ...

“At Christmas, I’m giving thanks to literally thousands of people,” said Mitchell Beddingfield, from his Swannanoa home.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jason Remillard, 49, and his wife Jennifer Remillard, 55, who left the Chicago suburbs to retire on a Maine homestead. They built their dream ...