Help Harold LaValley Rebuild His Family Home

Harold LaValley

My name is Jim, and the funds raised on this site will go to Harold LaValley. Harold and I started together at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as apprentices in 2009. We bonded in large part due to our technical knowledge, but also because Harold is the type of person that will help anyone that asks, and is willing to share his extensive knowledge. One of the things that stood about about Harold was his devotion to his family. I left the shipyard in 2018, but came back as a contractor in 2021, when we met again and started talking.

Being a typical New Englander, Harold is stoic, and doesn't share a lot of personal details with just anyone, but as I got to know him better I would ask about his wife and kids. He was always happy to talk about them and devoted to his family. Harold’s wife passed a couple months ago, and since then he has been trying to rebuild the home in which they raised their kids and built a life. Unfortunately, due to other priorities, the home had fallen into a state of disrepair.

Harold is at his retirement age and going through a very tough time. We are trying to raise money to help him complete his home, so he and his family can move back into it. Unfortunately, due to the damage that had been done, it was necessary to gut the house down to the studs. To legally occupy the home, he had to basically rebuild.

Harold is using his retirement to pay for the rebuild and that is running very low at this point. He has paid a contractor to completely seal the house with new walls, siding, roof, windows and doors. He is patiently waiting for the contractor to complete what he was paid for and was supposed to be completed in November of 2024. This has created a massive cost that should have been put towards the house; Harold has been paying over $600 a week to keep his kids in a hotel while waiting for the completion of the rebuild. Due to him having an elderly dog and a cat, he has been sleeping in his car in front of his house every night with a heated blanket to take care of his animals as he can’t bring them to the hotel.

Once the contractor has completed his work and seals the house, he can start the interior rebuild. We are asking for donations to complete the interior. He needs funds to help insulate, run wiring with associated materials as well as bathroom and kitchen materials. He has no heating system or hot water and has yet to get power run back to his house. This will not be completed without assistance from anyone who can donate towards his cause. This has been an extremely long process waiting on others to move forward and is costing him a lot of money and creating unneeded hardship on him and his children. Please donate any amount possible so we can get him back into his home.

Thank you for any help you can provide.

EDIT 2/13/2025:

Thank you so much to everyone that has donated so far. Everything helps.

They say you eat an elephant one bite at a time, and it seems like the next big bite for this project is to get into the house with some heat. The definition of done for this iteration is to get the kids out of the hotel, and Harold out of his car. The major impediment to that is the sealing up of the house. For whatever reason, the contractors are far behind and haven't delivered in the time they promised.

A pellet stove has been donated, and my son a licensed HVAC tech has offered to vent it, but without the house sealed off, they still wouldn't be able to occupy.

As things go, I'll continue to update. Again, thank you so much everyone that has helped out, and for all you've done. I don't have social media, so if you are willing and able to share, please do!