Please help my sister Korinne

Hi - my name is Kourtney (Van Patten) Zuckerman and I’m starting this fundraiser for my amazing sister, Korinne.

As some of you may know from our local news tonight, my sister was a victim of an $84,000 contracting scam and today, the contractor, Chad Niccols, was sentenced to jail but tragically, she most likely will not see a single penny.

My sister, Korinne, is a single mother who works endless hours of overtime in order to give them a good life. A dream she never thought attainable was buying a house for her and her kids, but through blood, sweat, and tears, her dream finally came true a few years ago, and she was able to get a house right next to my mom. The house was, in our eyes, perfect but definitely needed a lot of TLC. To what she thought was her luck, she met Chad, who was dating a friend of hers, and he told her he would absolutely be able to help her repair her house at a very reasonable price. I remember her telling me that she had prayed so hard for a solution to fixing her house and she believed Chad was an answer to her prayers. Over time, he preyed on my family, gained their trust, and led them to believe he cared deeply for all of them. Things turned soon after, and through the next few months, he made countless excuses on why he needed more and more money and eventually started threatening her life if she didn’t give money to him or if she went to the police. She was in so much fear for the safety of her and her kids that she ended up taking out a home equity loan and then eventually drained her savings and retirement. He ripped up rooms down to studs and never came back to finish the work. She held this secret for months because of shame and embarrassment but finally decided to share this secret with me last fall. That day, I watched my broken, once incredibly strong sister hysterically cry in my kitchen with immense fear as I told her to go to the police. For months, my sister had to relive the hell and pure fear he put her through in order to build a case against him. The entire time, she prayed non-stop that she would see just a fraction of the money back, but that never happened. He agreed to a sentence of serving jail time with a sentencing scheduled for today. My sister and niece were scheduled to read victim impact statements so they had one last chance to tell him how he destroyed their lives, but that never happened because he didn’t show up. So instead, they read their heartbreaking victim impact statements to an empty chair. There is now a warrant for his arrest, and he’s sentenced to jail. I left that hearing feeling devastated for my family because his sentencing does nothing to get my sister out of this financial hell she’s in. I’ve now watched the news story multiple times and can’t help but cry all over again for how strong they all are, but that something more needs to be done. Which is where I turn to you. For those of you who don’t know my sister, she is one of the most generous people you will meet, and even though she’s always the first one to help, she will never, ever ask for help - so I will for her. I’ve never done anything like this before but thought, what’s the harm. If I can collect anything for my sister, it’s something. So, I graciously, from the bottom of my heart, ask for any donation you can spare to help my sister get out of financial ruins and repair her house to a livable state. Thank you so much for your consideration.

https://wnyt.com/top-stories/ballston-spa-man-hired-to-renovate-home-instead-cons-single-mother-out-of-84k/