Family of 20 determined to keep condemned home

Scranton Times-Tribune ^ | 8/15/03 | Andrew Scott

[Born Conservative]

A North Scranton family with 18 children is determined to keep their Habitat for Humanity home, which was declared unfit for human habitation last month.

The city condemned the 2517 N. Main Ave. home of Charles and Barbara Smith on July 29 for debris outside and inside the house, and because the Scranton Sewer Authority shut off the water on July 24, said Bill Fiorini, director of permits, inspections and licensing.

Mr. Smith, who said the city should have let his family stay in the house while they correct the violations, said they have until October to fix the problems or else they will lose the house.

The Smiths and 14 of their children, ages 3 to 21, are staying several blocks away at the home of one of their older sons, Mr. Smith said.

Habitat for Humanity, which renovates abandoned houses into affordable homes for first-time, low-income owners, bought and fixed up the North Main Avenue duplex for the Smiths, converting it into a single-family home with 10 bedrooms and three bathrooms. In March 2000, the family moved in.

As the largest biological family ever to obtain a house through Habitat for Humanity, the Smiths were featured in the Sunday New York Times as well as on the ABC-TV newsmagazine "20/20."

But the family, relying solely on Mrs. Smith's income as a housekeeper, fell behind on their sewer payments by 13 months, owing $1,600 to the Scranton Sewer Authority, Mr. Smith said Thursday afternoon. As a result, their water was shut off.

A former auto mechanic, Mr. Smith said he is no longer able to work because of heart problems. The family kept up on their $115-a-month mortgage payments and other utility bills, but those and other expenses left no money for sewer payments, which were $123 a month, he said.

"We busted our humps to get that house through Habitat," Mr. Smith said. "Whatever it takes, we're getting back into that house. We don't want people making us out to be a bad family just because we're having a hard time maintaining our house. We're decent people. We're just having a tough time because we're low income."

Mr. Smith said the violations include some damaged light bulb fixtures, which he said he tried to repair, and a missing electrical junction box lid in the laundry room, which he said he replaced. He said other violations included missing ceiling tiles in the pool table room, which he said he took down after his children damaged them with pool sticks.

Habitat director Ozzie Quinn said his agency and Lackawanna County Children and Youth Services support keeping the family in their home.

Children and Youth caseworker Kerry Kimmick said her agency deemed the home habitable for children during its last visit there, but said she couldn't recall when the last visit took place. Ms. Kimmick said the agency has not visited the home since it was condemned. And without a copy of the list of code violations, Children and Youth cannot determine if the house is still fit for children, she said.

"The city should have notified us before condemning the house," Mr. Quinn said. "Had we known ahead of time, we could have tried to prevent this."

Mr. Fiorini said the city did not notify Habitat because the Smiths own the home, even though the Smiths make mortgage payments to Habitat.

"The family didn't let us know they were having problems keeping up on the utility payments. Otherwise, we would have tried to help," Mr. Quinn said.

"We didn't let anyone know because we don't like going to others for help unless it's absolutely necessary," Mr. Smith said. "We don't like being thought of as one of those families who take assistance they don't really need."

[LuLuLuLu]

We had a similar story here locally. There was a "single" mother with six or 7 children moved by H/H out of the neighborhood we bought into in 1999 to an outlying area (commonly referred to with a very pejorative nickname).

I ranted a bit when I saw the newspaper article, but then decided that we're better off without her. IIRC, she was also unemployed.

Don't these people (H/H AND the recipients) understand that there's more to owning a house than the mortgage payment?! My oldest daughter caught wind of a couple of deals where the mortgage would be less than her current rent payment. As visions of more space danced in her head, I brought her back to earth with our receipts for new windows, painting, landscaping, etc. Not to mention utility bills and taxes. Hell, even if all you do the first couple of years is keep the place clean, cut the grass and shovel the snow, that's still more money than you're paying in an apartment.

The only connection I've ever had to H/H is convincing my boss that anyone who lists "H/H volunteer" on his resume would NOT be a good match for our office.

[boris]

Boris' suggestions:

(1) Evacuate the house. Send in a robot with a powerful gamma source, such as Cesium-137. Have the robot wave it everywhere, in every nook and cranny. When the robot leaves, there will be nothing alive inside, including walls, floors, structure.

Or (2) Tent the place and flood it (in sucession) with Ethelyne Oxide and then Methyl Bromide. Remove tent. Flush with air.

I think method (1) will work best.

--Boris

[ikka]

If those people trashed it before, they'll trash it again

YEP! You called it right... see this update... condemned, AGAIN... Habitat Home Condemned

[visualops]

LOL that was prophetic. I'd forgotton about that post!
Thanks for the reminder :)