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November 2, 2009

Community helping Clinton family as they race to save their home

By Brian Boyce

TERRE HAUTE — The hits just keep on coming for one Clinton family as friends race against the calendar to rehab an old house before eviction time.

“Our goal is to get her in here,” Shaun Boylan said Sunday morning, paintbrush in hand. He and others worked all weekend at 720 Elm St., an abandoned home his sister and brother-in-law bought and plan to give to charity to house friends about to be homeless. The house, which all admitted will never be a mansion, was stripped bare as children painted away. There was little question the walls will remain stripped until after the move. But, “we’ve had a huge turnout from the community,” he said, noting that 45 people helped out Saturday and more were on their way after church.

His sister and brother-in-law, Peggy Wesley-Fitzthum and Matt Fitzthum, recently purchased the house with plans to renovate and use it as a rental, Peggy explained.

But those plans changed when the father of their son’s friend died unexpectedly at the age of 37. The newly widowed mother of two is facing eviction from the family’s apartment, and Wesley-Fitzthum has decided to donate the house to a newly formed charity to house them, she said.

Rob Kennedy, father of Michael, 9, and Maddie, 2, had long suffered from heart and lung problems, she said, but until recently had never applied for disability or other forms of assistance. The two families had been at a football game with their kids when he died that evening, she said, setting off a chain of events which had the mother and children in danger of being homeless. Wesley-Fitzthum and others prevailed upon the landlord to give an extension to the family, and as the days draw near, the group has about a week to make the house livable.

The mother, Mary, has been looking for work all year, Wesley-Fitzthum said, noting that she does not have a GED but wants to complete that when she can. In the meantime, the 2-year-old has undergone brain surgery at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis and suffers from chronic growth deficiencies.

Wesley-Fitzthum said she and her husband entered into a land contract on the Elm Street house two years ago, paying the $24,000 price off recently. They had planned to begin applying payments, bit by bit, toward renovating the property. “We would have the money in six to nine months. But not six to nine weeks,” she said, noting that neither she nor her husband wanted to be “slumlords” and had planned the renovation as a longer-term project.

But as the Kennedy family struggled, the two became acquainted with Community Partners in Clinton, and eventually formed Simple House, A Community Comes Together, a group to whom they’ve donated the deed to the property. Kennedy will make payments of $300 per month to the group for five years, after which she will own the house outright, Wesley-Fitzthum explained. The proceeds from this property will go toward the purchase of another. “And the cycle will continue,” she said.

But at 8 a.m. Sunday morning, the group was more concerned with getting this first 1,200-square-foot, two-year-vacant property up to snuff than with any future houses.

“Grab a brush,” Christine Boylan, Shaun’s wife laughed, adding, “I hope he doesn’t get too used to this and think I’m going to start home decorating.”

Meanwhile, Kennedy and her family are preparing for the move, packing their belongings. As of yet, the property is not ready to be moved into. Boylan said the group can use all the donated materials it can get, from bags of sheetrock to paint, flooring and carpet. Thus far, donations from the Clinton community have been tremendous, he said, noting that the mayor and other city officials are behind the project.

“It’s just really cool how many people have come out to help,” his wife said.

Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.

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