After the fire: A Fremont Twp. mother’s fight to rebuild
FREMONT TWP. — Sitting in a circle of outdoor chairs with her daughter, cousin and “Papa” on a September afternoon, Sherri Converse had a simple plea. With the ashes of her paid-off house a few steps away, and her hopefully temporary camper behind her, she hoped for a mild winter.
“I’m just scared, because I was just watching [the news], like, ‘What is the winter going to be like?’ And I’m like, ‘God, you must be helping, doing something with this El Niño,’” she said.
Some folks know Converse’s cooking. Others know the single mom from when she watched over their kids. Still more may recall how a March fire engulfed her home, leaving her with nowhere to go.
Despite a concerted effort, led in part by Mason Steel Buildings, a Massachusetts-based company, who generously offered to donate the structure of a new home, the single mother is still living in a camper on her property.
Her home is still gone. The new one is far from complete. Converse is unsure of where insulation, plumbing, a concrete supplier and electrical work will come from.
It’s been several months, “and I’m still sitting here. I don’t know what to do,” she said.
In particular, she’s heard people talk about how she’s still asking for help.
Her house had been paid for in full with money her grandpa left her, but securing insurance was problematic due to a shoddy roofing job, Converse said.
She attempted to find housing at a mobile home community, but said she fears her identity was stolen by an employee who disappeared. She said she lost out on hundreds of dollars in cleaning supplies that were left in her new trailer, and her paperwork to move in had been lost. In the end, she did not move into the mobile home.
Nevertheless, Converse wanted to stay where her roots were planted. Her property northeast of Yale is serene and full of memories, past money poured in, and is where she’d like to stay.
Converse speaks glowingly of the crowd that has rallied around her. She dreams of hosting everyone who offered her and her family help at a pig roast.
Trying to get back on her feet, she is gearing up for a caretaker job this winter, and said she has applied to a local gas station.
But, for now, Converse remains in limbo.
Still, Converse said she hopes the help she has received will eventually allow her to do the same for someone else.
“I want to help single moms that felt like me or feel like me right now.”
A GoFundMe has been established to assist Converse. Learn more at tinyurl.com/jdjmknzy.
— Max Kappel is a Report for America corp member, a national organization seeking to fill news deserts and report on under-covered issues. Make a tax-deductible donation to support his work and Report for America will match it dollar for dollar. Go to: tinyurl.com/2s372ebu.
