WESTMOUNT — A knight in a shining carpenter’s helmet has resurfaced.
Jeremy Locke, the owner of Locke’s Roofing and Construction, is about to change the life of Veronica Brown of Westmount, rallying efforts to restore her badly deteriorating family home.
She’s alone in that house,” Locke said. “Her father was a military man, she doesn’t have anybody. It’s either we help her or she has to leave the house and let the city tear it down. That’s her family home, I don’t want to see that happen to her.”
In a story in the Cape Breton Post last year, Locke had a desire so great to help Jeanette MacDonald of Glace Bay who was living with holes in her roof, he resorted to trickery by pretending she could enter a draw for a free roof, however, she was the only entry. Through Locke’s generosity, businesses and the public jumped on board. The inside of her home was renovated, even beds were purchased for the four grandchildren she’s raising alone.
How it began
Locke said the more recent situation all started when Brown contacted him looking for a repair.
“When I arrived on the property I quickly took notice it was beyond a repair,” he said.
Locke was amazed at the history Brown had compiled of her family home, which dates back to 1942.
“She showed me pictures all through the renovations and of contractors she had hired to do work which I guess didn’t pan out too spectacular,” he said.
Locke said Brown only receives a $1,300 monthly pension and would never have the funds for what needs to be done.
After hearing her story, Locke decided he was going to help her but at the time as far as Brown knew, he was going to try to help her get a grant to get some work done.
Instead, he has been scurrying around trying to rally a community effort.
Locke said he is looking at a new roof, replacing 18 windows, a couple of doors and painting the structure. Plans also include fixing the porch and reframing a section of the side of the house that includes a bedroom and bathroom area that was destroyed as a result of the leaky roof.
“It’s going to be quite the overhaul,” Locke said.
Materials will be about $20,000 alone. Locke is providing $10,000 in lumber and roof materials and is hoping building supplies companies will jump on board with windows and other supplies.
“I have approached some companies and are hoping they come on board with us,” he said. “All I need is windows and doors, everything else is a go. I’m waiting for a response from people who have showed interest in helping.”
In the meantime, some wee hands in the community surfaced. Through the efforts of Locke’s wife Courtney MacNeil and parents and children of Cooper’s Play House in Reserve Mines, a fundraiser bake sale was held at the Reserve Mines fire hall raising $566 towards the lumber.
“The firefighters were great letting us hold it there,” Locke said. “They even entertained the children with the fire trucks. It was a really good day.”
Veronica Brown's nightmare
For Veronica Brown, after years of her house deteriorating and neighbours issuing complaints, it was emotional knowing her house is finally going to be fixed.
“Jeremy told me he believes in doing what the Amish do, getting together and helping people,” she said. “It brought tears to my eyes. I’m extremely grateful. I have nobody ... nobody at all.”
Brown said this is her home, part of her family for 80 years. Her father, the late Vaughan Brown who died in 2002, was a shipwright in the navy and stationed in St. John’s, N.L.
It was around 2009 when Veronica Brown’s problems began. The house had an upper story roof balcony with a bedroom and bathroom underneath.
Brown hired someone to fix a soft spot on this flat part of the roof which was collecting rain. She gave him a $1,000 deposit. The worker was only supposed to fix that one spot.
“The rest of the roof was solid, yet he tore the whole roof off and put a new one on wrong, destroying the original structure,” she said emotionally.
“He took off with the $1,000 with no covering over the bare wood roof except for one small $5 tarp from the dollar store.”
Brown said from there, the roof kept getting worse and no one would help her.
“Anyone I had over to look at remedying this problem wouldn’t take on addressing someone else’s mess,” she said. “No one wanted to undo someone else’s damage.”
Water leaking in her house in this section resulted in needing six basins during heavy rainstorms, forcing her to move from her bedroom below.
“I have slept on a couch in the living room since,” she said.
Over the years, patches of shingles blew off her roof in the winter. Now, water leaks down the walls from the main peak in the house.
In the meantime, Brown was living between Cape Breton and Toronto and whenever she was away neighbours would issue complaints to the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
As a result, bylaws inspectors started visiting her property but were kind to her.
“They were great right from the beginning,” she said.
In a story in the Cape Breton Post on May 10, 2017, neighbours even circulated a petition regarding Brown’s property and the CBRM confirmed issuing a 30-day cleanup order.
No help, only complaints
In July 2019, a friend minding her house and cats emailed her in Toronto to let her know the municipality had heavy-duty equipment on her property. Brown arrived home that night to discover three outbuildings had been demolished, including her father’s workshop full of his tools, equipment and her cord wood.
“The inspector told me if I hadn’t of come back, in two months they were going to take my house down and make me homeless,” Brown said.
During the demolition, electricity was disconnected from her outbuildings, blowing the fuses in her home. The municipality had boarded up her windows.
“I had to live in my house for a week with a flashlight and no light until a compassionate neighbour up the road offered to take a ladder and get these boards off my windows,” she said.
The angel at the end of the tunnel
Brown said after 11 years of struggles, distraught and alone, Locke appeared on her doorstep last week.
“I’ve never seen that kind of kindness, only hatefulness,” she said. “I was dealing with all these devils and then all of a sudden, I reached out and I found an angel. I found compassion.”
The Cape Breton Regional Municipality confirmed issues with the property in the past and removing some outbuildings but said there are currently no pending complaints or actions against the property.
Paul Burt, manager of building, planning and licensing bylaws, said in general their policy in conjunction with the Municipal Government Act allows for anytime the municipality issues a cleanup or demolition order, to recover costs through a lien on a person’s tax account.
If the person makes arrangements for payments, the municipality doesn’t take any more action.
“If arrears are owing, eventually your property could be subject to a tax sale if you don’t pay the bill and the amount keeps growing.”
Anyone wishing to help Locke can contact him at 902-317-0055.
