Woman's home a true gem in Salt Lake community's renovation
It all happened in this space.
And thanks to some dedicated community members, she has her house back. Sure, it has new walls, plumbing, electricity and carpeting. It needed a new roof, insulation, heating and air-conditioning. The front porch was repaired, and it has new appliances and sod for the yard.
But that doesn't change the meaning the space has to Brenda. It's hers, and despite financial and personal hardships she suffered following the fire, she could never bear to part with it — even when it was in complete disrepair, uninhabitable and boarded up.
It all began when Brenda had left her three grandchildren and their mother, her daughter, in her home while she went to attend a family function.
She wasn't gone more than 10 minutes before she received the heartbreaking news.
"January 9th, 2002. Around four p.m. I'll never forget that," Brenda said.
One of her grandsons, a toddler at the time, had managed to light a candle in the house. Some wax from the candle had spilled on his hand — causing him to drop the lit candle into a trash bin.
It ignited the contents of the bin and burned the entire back half of her home. Smoke damage ruined what was left.
"Maybe in a way, it was a blessing," Brenda said, smiling at the boy in her new kitchen. "In a way, he made this all possible."
Even though she couldn't live in the house, she couldn't sell it, either. It was hers. So she spent the next five years paying mortgage payments on her uninhabitable house on top of her rent and other necessities. But the emotional and financial strife weren't enough to make her abandon her home.
"I almost gave up three times," Brenda said. "But every time I went to sleep, there was a voice that said, 'Don't do it."'
Then she met Scott, who asked to remain anonymous, of Trackside LLC, a corporation in the neighborhood that had teamed up with Salt Lake Neighborhood Housing Services to help clean up the area.
She was standing at the gate of the remains of her home, staring — the windows boarded up — when he approached her. He asked if she owned it and if she would consider selling it — she wouldn't. He asked if she would be fixing it up — she didn't have the money to.
Scott said he could help. He connected her with the Neighborhood Housing Services to work out her financial issues; he made calls to people he knew, people that he thought might be willing to donate their time and services.
Recent comments
This is an amazing news article and one that make me happy to read...
Gladys McGowan | May 5, 2008 at 3:38 p.m.
