House Building Fund
Donation protected
Home Sweet Home......NOT!
Our good friends Jeff & Kathy need a little help and we are hoping that some of you may find it in your hearts to donate even a small amount to help them out. Jeff Boutilier, a successful chef and restaurateur and his partner Kathy Kolos, find themselves victims of the 2008 financial crisis. Ten years later, instead of looking forward to retirement, are fighting simply to survive. They lost their home and business, The City Cafe in Yuba City, CA after a series of circumstances beyond their control. Today, this is what they call home sweet home. But for anyone who is familiar with Vermont winters, you know this is anything but! This has been their home for the past five years.
Jeff grew up in Burlington VT, a Vermont native and musician with a desire to own his own restaurant. He moved to California where he met Kathy and fell in love! Fullfilling his dream in November 1997, together they open The City Café in Yuba City. Two months later the town was evacuated for a week due to a flood. Luckily their business did not suffer any damage but a week with no income in a two month old business is difficult to absorb. But they did and eventually became the “anchor business” of the city which started the renaissance of downtown Yuba City. Business was good, life was good!
Yuma City was growing, and with it’s growth the city decided to re-do the main street, the street that ran in front of The City Café. The construction lasted an unbelievable year, blocking access to the front of the restaurant, making the alley the only way to enter. As you can imagine, this had an extremely negative impact on their business. They weathered that and once the construction was complete Jeff & Kathy continued to grow their business.
Then the recession hit. People were moving out of town daily, businesses were closing. People were losing everything. Jeff and Kathy were forced to short sell their house losing over $150,000.
Still they persevered and thought they may have actually weathered the storm. Throughout this time, Kathy was plagued with medical issues. Continual trips to the ENT never found anything. Red flags for cancer uncovered during her trips to the ENT were overlooked and in 2011, Kathy was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Undergoing five surgeries, hospitalized for 6 months, going through 60 days of radiation treatment that burned her skin and caused it to deteriorate, she lost her ear, her hearing in that ear, and suffers daily with scar tissue that leaves her in constant pain. Today, 8 years later she is still experiencing further deterioration and bleeding of her skin.
Thankfully cancer did not take Kathy’s life, but it’s impact on their lives left them with no choice but to sell the restaurant. At one time having been offered $400,000, they sold it for $65,000. They paid off all of their debt, except for the $350 per month to the IRS that they are still paying and will be for two more years. After selling everything, they purchased their trailer and started their cross country trip back to Vermont with cats and dog in tow.
With the help of their family, they have set up their trailer on land that Jeff's father left to him and have been working at building their new home.
Now to some, this may sound romantic and adventuresome, living in a cozy camper nestled in the beautiful woods off a dirt road in Vermont. Think again. Our first snowfall can (and has) come in October, the last one in April or May! In the winter our snow is measured by feet, our temperatures go below zero. Sixty gallons of water has to be carted 2-3 times per week. One gallon of water weighs 8 pounds.
All the pipes have to be wrapped in electric tape to keep them from freezing, but when the temps go below zero, sometimes even the tape isn’t enough to keep the pipes from freezing. Their shower doubles as a clothes closet and litter box, which means everyday when they shower, they first must take EVERYTHING out of the shower. After a shower they have to wipe it all down and put everything back. Kitchen, dining room, living room, all one small space. Bedroom….one bedroom with a bed, that’s it.
At times it seems like 2 steps forward and 3 steps back. Last winter Jeff had saved up 6 weeks of vacation time so he could work on the house during the summer. We had a terrible ice storm and when leaving the camper one morning, Jeff slipped on the ice and freakishly broke both his tibia and fibia. Needless to say, he used up all of his vacation time and money saved on his injuries.
Kathy is an incredibly strong woman. A California native, she was not used to the cold, harsh winters we have had. In Yuba City they lived in a large house, she worked 50+ hours a week and had a network of friends. Despite the pain she endures and the lack of strength caused by all of the radiation treatments, she perseveres. Not one to sit around, she works part time and is on disability. Not an easy job, she comes home exhausted. During the holiday season when her job required her to work additional hours, she ended up working more hours than is allowed by social security. But instead of being penalized by not getting her disability check that week, the IRS has told her she now must pay back over $20,000, ALL of the money she had collected during the year.
These two cannot catch a break. They are embarrassed to be asking for money and it is only because their friends have convinced them it is the thing to do. Many of us are there and ready to swing a hammer and do whatever we can to help. The holdup at this point is simply not enough money.
Up until now, they have earned and saved the money necessary to buy what was needed for the next phase of the project.
But now they are faced with the really expensive stuff. Unlike a larger town or city, they are not able to simply connect to the water and sewer system or connect to the electric grid. Lines for everything have to be run a large distance which incurs a great deal of expense. The four main hurdles: installing a septic system (over $20,000), putting in a water system, running electricity to the site and installing insulation. If they could just get this done, they could actually live in the house while they finish building. Our hope is that by creating this Go Fund Me Page, they will be able to get enough money to get them over this hurdle and have this be the last winter they spend in the camper. Many small drops can fill a bucket. Thank you for your time in reading this and helping to spread the work. And if you are able to help with any amount of a donation, Jeff and Kathy will be forever grateful. Many thanks!
Our good friends Jeff & Kathy need a little help and we are hoping that some of you may find it in your hearts to donate even a small amount to help them out. Jeff Boutilier, a successful chef and restaurateur and his partner Kathy Kolos, find themselves victims of the 2008 financial crisis. Ten years later, instead of looking forward to retirement, are fighting simply to survive. They lost their home and business, The City Cafe in Yuba City, CA after a series of circumstances beyond their control. Today, this is what they call home sweet home. But for anyone who is familiar with Vermont winters, you know this is anything but! This has been their home for the past five years.
Jeff grew up in Burlington VT, a Vermont native and musician with a desire to own his own restaurant. He moved to California where he met Kathy and fell in love! Fullfilling his dream in November 1997, together they open The City Café in Yuba City. Two months later the town was evacuated for a week due to a flood. Luckily their business did not suffer any damage but a week with no income in a two month old business is difficult to absorb. But they did and eventually became the “anchor business” of the city which started the renaissance of downtown Yuba City. Business was good, life was good!
Yuma City was growing, and with it’s growth the city decided to re-do the main street, the street that ran in front of The City Café. The construction lasted an unbelievable year, blocking access to the front of the restaurant, making the alley the only way to enter. As you can imagine, this had an extremely negative impact on their business. They weathered that and once the construction was complete Jeff & Kathy continued to grow their business.
Then the recession hit. People were moving out of town daily, businesses were closing. People were losing everything. Jeff and Kathy were forced to short sell their house losing over $150,000.
Still they persevered and thought they may have actually weathered the storm. Throughout this time, Kathy was plagued with medical issues. Continual trips to the ENT never found anything. Red flags for cancer uncovered during her trips to the ENT were overlooked and in 2011, Kathy was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Undergoing five surgeries, hospitalized for 6 months, going through 60 days of radiation treatment that burned her skin and caused it to deteriorate, she lost her ear, her hearing in that ear, and suffers daily with scar tissue that leaves her in constant pain. Today, 8 years later she is still experiencing further deterioration and bleeding of her skin.
Thankfully cancer did not take Kathy’s life, but it’s impact on their lives left them with no choice but to sell the restaurant. At one time having been offered $400,000, they sold it for $65,000. They paid off all of their debt, except for the $350 per month to the IRS that they are still paying and will be for two more years. After selling everything, they purchased their trailer and started their cross country trip back to Vermont with cats and dog in tow.
With the help of their family, they have set up their trailer on land that Jeff's father left to him and have been working at building their new home.
Now to some, this may sound romantic and adventuresome, living in a cozy camper nestled in the beautiful woods off a dirt road in Vermont. Think again. Our first snowfall can (and has) come in October, the last one in April or May! In the winter our snow is measured by feet, our temperatures go below zero. Sixty gallons of water has to be carted 2-3 times per week. One gallon of water weighs 8 pounds.
All the pipes have to be wrapped in electric tape to keep them from freezing, but when the temps go below zero, sometimes even the tape isn’t enough to keep the pipes from freezing. Their shower doubles as a clothes closet and litter box, which means everyday when they shower, they first must take EVERYTHING out of the shower. After a shower they have to wipe it all down and put everything back. Kitchen, dining room, living room, all one small space. Bedroom….one bedroom with a bed, that’s it.
At times it seems like 2 steps forward and 3 steps back. Last winter Jeff had saved up 6 weeks of vacation time so he could work on the house during the summer. We had a terrible ice storm and when leaving the camper one morning, Jeff slipped on the ice and freakishly broke both his tibia and fibia. Needless to say, he used up all of his vacation time and money saved on his injuries.
Kathy is an incredibly strong woman. A California native, she was not used to the cold, harsh winters we have had. In Yuba City they lived in a large house, she worked 50+ hours a week and had a network of friends. Despite the pain she endures and the lack of strength caused by all of the radiation treatments, she perseveres. Not one to sit around, she works part time and is on disability. Not an easy job, she comes home exhausted. During the holiday season when her job required her to work additional hours, she ended up working more hours than is allowed by social security. But instead of being penalized by not getting her disability check that week, the IRS has told her she now must pay back over $20,000, ALL of the money she had collected during the year.
These two cannot catch a break. They are embarrassed to be asking for money and it is only because their friends have convinced them it is the thing to do. Many of us are there and ready to swing a hammer and do whatever we can to help. The holdup at this point is simply not enough money.
Up until now, they have earned and saved the money necessary to buy what was needed for the next phase of the project.
But now they are faced with the really expensive stuff. Unlike a larger town or city, they are not able to simply connect to the water and sewer system or connect to the electric grid. Lines for everything have to be run a large distance which incurs a great deal of expense. The four main hurdles: installing a septic system (over $20,000), putting in a water system, running electricity to the site and installing insulation. If they could just get this done, they could actually live in the house while they finish building. Our hope is that by creating this Go Fund Me Page, they will be able to get enough money to get them over this hurdle and have this be the last winter they spend in the camper. Many small drops can fill a bucket. Thank you for your time in reading this and helping to spread the work. And if you are able to help with any amount of a donation, Jeff and Kathy will be forever grateful. Many thanks!
Organizer and beneficiary
Melanie Atwood
Organizer
Jericho, VT
Jeff Boutilier
Beneficiary
