Help WP neighbor after house fire
Donation protected
Probably most of you know that our neighbor on 7th, Tom who takes care of his disabled, much-older brother Daniel , had a house fire a couple weeks ago. The fire seemed to start in/near his electric meter or service line; it burned up a chunk of the back wall of his house, leaving things open to the elements and he and his brother without power.
Tom is pursuing a complaint with PUCO because he thinks an incomplete repair by AEP was the cause, but he does not have property insurance and PUCO complaints can take more than a year to resolve. (And of course there's no guarantee he will prevail.)
He is very self-reliant and very unhappy at the idea of asking people for help, but his savings are insufficient to get his house repaired and electricity restored. There's a $1500 gap between the estimate a contractor gave him and what he has (estimate is $4500). He has contacted all kinds of different avenues for help but has hit dead ends.
Given how long Tom and Daniel have been good neighbors in WP, Julia Orban and Laura Bidwa are working together to ask neighbors privately if we can come together and cover this expense. So we ask you: would you be willing to contribute as part of this effort? We know the pandemic has affected everyone differently and not all are able to spare anything right now, but we are hopeful that those who can might be able to get our neighbor out of a really lousy situation.
Tom is pursuing a complaint with PUCO because he thinks an incomplete repair by AEP was the cause, but he does not have property insurance and PUCO complaints can take more than a year to resolve. (And of course there's no guarantee he will prevail.)
He is very self-reliant and very unhappy at the idea of asking people for help, but his savings are insufficient to get his house repaired and electricity restored. There's a $1500 gap between the estimate a contractor gave him and what he has (estimate is $4500). He has contacted all kinds of different avenues for help but has hit dead ends.
Given how long Tom and Daniel have been good neighbors in WP, Julia Orban and Laura Bidwa are working together to ask neighbors privately if we can come together and cover this expense. So we ask you: would you be willing to contribute as part of this effort? We know the pandemic has affected everyone differently and not all are able to spare anything right now, but we are hopeful that those who can might be able to get our neighbor out of a really lousy situation.
Organizer
Julia Sullivan Orban
Organizer
Columbus, OH