Local Habitat home plagued by mold

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Local Habitat home plagued by mold

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Family forced to move by toxic invader; organization looks to help

Monday, March 19, 2007

By TOM LOEWY

GALESBURG - Nothing appeared to be wrong Thursday at the modest

three-room, one-story house Amy and West own at 2085 E. First

St.

Amy has worked hard to make the house Habit for Humanity built for

her five years ago a home. Landscaping has been done. Small ceramic

and concrete figures stood post in a bed of woodchips.

There was evidence of children. A purple-and-pink pogo stick and a

plastic pump-action toy shotgun sat on the patio next to a couple of

chairs.

But the inside of the West home was another matter. The family was

in the middle of a chaotic, unplanned move. There was no place to

sit in the living room. Boxes, blankets, sheets and articles of

clothing covered the couch and recliner chair.

The Wests' move could be called an evacuation. Their home is

infested with mold.

" It must have been about three weeks ago that I first noticed the

stain on the ceiling, " Amy said.

KENT KRIEGSHAUSER/The Register-Mail

A large patch of mold is seen on the kitchen ceiling, right, in the

home of and Amy West. The house, built by Habitat for

Humanity, has become so mold infested the West family has had to

move out for health reasons.

She pointed to a portion of the ceiling in the kitchen. Spots that

resembled black oil sat in the middle of a light brown stain.

" At first, it was just a light brown spot on the ceiling, " Amy

said. " There is an attic crawlspace up there and it looked like

water had leaked through the roof and was coming through the

ceiling. "

opened the attic hatch door and immediately knew they were

dealing with more than just a leaky roof.

" went up there and shined a flashlight in, " Amy said. " The

first thing he said was 'We're in trouble.' He saw the mold.

" I started freaking out. "

Dangerous mold

Amy's concerns turned out to be well-founded after she called in

Randy Stufflebeem, a mold specialist for Be Sure Environmental

Services.

" I was there to do air sampling and testing, " Stufflebeem

said. " When I walked into the home, I saw the black stains on the

ceiling in the kitchen. "

The black spots are stachybotrys.

" Stachybotrys is called 'black mold' or 'toxic mold.' It is not a

good thing, " Stufflebeem said. " Stachybotrys carries microtoxins

that can be poisonous if they are inhaled. "

KENT KRIEGSHAUSER/The Register-Mail

West points his flashlight into the attic of the home he

shares with his wife Amy at 2085 E. First St. in Galesburg.

The toxins stachybotrys carry can cause all kinds of illnesses and

even damage the structural integrity of cells.

Stufflebeem's samples were sent to ProLab in Florida. The results

that came back, according to Stufflebeem, went " way beyond the pale. "

" The raw count in the home was 848, " Stufflebeem said. " For

comparison, a raw count of 1 of stachybotrys is considered elevated. "

Stufflebeem said a number of factors were present in the Wests' home

that made mold growth possible.

" I can't tell exactly what happened structurally, " he said. " But

when I went into the crawlspace under the house, I sunk in mud. It

is very wet. And the dryer vent empties into the crawl space. That's

warm, moist air being pumped in there every time someone used the

dryer. "

Stufflebeem said the attic area looked bad.

" As I crawled into the attic, it just got worse and worse, " he said.

Help from Habitat?

Amy West said she isn't " out to get Habitat for Humanity. "

" This house was built for me by Habitat for Humanity about five

years ago and I really appreciate it, " Amy said. " I wouldn't have

ever been able to have a home if it was for Habitat.

" That's why I feel so bad now. I appreciate everything they have

done for me in the past, but I feel left alone on this now. "

and Amy said they contacted the Rev. Ecklund, director

of Habitat for Humanity of Knox County, and explained the mold

problem.

Ecklund said Habitat for Humanity will do everything within its

power to help the Wests.

Habitat for Humanity of Knox County started building homes in 1993

and has averaged three projects a year. The 35th home was dedicated

last week, home No. 36 is under construction and work on No. 37

recently began.

Habitat for Humanity in Knox County has never encountered a mold

problem in any of its homes, but the Warren County chapter had to

remediate a home in the past year. Habitat for Humanity in Warren

County bought out the mortgage of the family that lived in the home

and a new family is living in the house.

" We don't want to just leave Amy and her family with this problem, "

Ecklund said. " This is not an easy situation for anyone. We will

bend over backwards to help them.

" What a lot of people don't realize is that Habitat is in a unique

situation. We are the builders, but the people we build for own the

home. The owners pay a 20-year, interest-free mortgage, " Ecklund

said.

So far, the Wests have received $319 from Habitat's maintenance

fund. Amy has been contributing to the fund since she moved into the

home.

The Wests already have paid $490 to have the house inspected. They

will have bills for medical tests and relocation costs.

The bills are mounting and the Wests have no idea how they will pay

for them while they search for a new home.

" Our insurance won't cover the damage or the repair, "

said. " They found that it was a structural problem with the house

and the house wasn't damaged. "

said his insurance company said a flaw in the construction

caused the structural problem. Stufflebeem estimated the cost to fix

the mold problem started at $30,000.

" It's the cost of another home, " he said. " We can't get a loan to

buy a house. Where are we going to get the money to fix this one? "

Ecklund knows the Wests need answers now.

" Amy and and their family need to move fast, " Ecklund

said. " But it is a situation where we can't move as fast. We're

looking at a major financial issue and we are trying to help them

figure out how to solve it. "

An answer could be provided by Habitat for Humanity of Knox County's

insurance agent. On Friday, Ecklund said Habitat is working with its

insurance agent to determine what can be done with the house.

Health concerns

Amy's sons, 7-year-old Cameron and 9-year-old Austin, moved to their

grandmother's March 9.

's daughter, 5-year-old Brenna, splits time at her mother's

house. She is there for the duration.

Stufflebeem said the stachybotrys mold is toxic and can cause an

array of health issues, from sore throats and headaches to hair

loss, general malaise.

According to Amy, the boys tested positive for the presence of mold

in their blood.

Amy now looks back at her sons' history of health issues and can't

help but wonder if the mold in her house was the cause or a

contributing factor.

" The boys have had illnesses - mainly things associated with sinus

and allergies, " Amy said. " Austyn had to see a pediatric neurologist

because of headaches and Cameron does get bloody noses quite a bit.

And Cameron had a fungal infection around his bottom. I've learned

that mold can cause fungal skin infections.

" Now I'm left to wonder. And I wonder if there will be health issues

down the line for our family. "

Stufflebeem said he wasn't surprised West's children have had health

issues.

" Not everyone reacts to stachybotrys exposure in the same way, " he

said. " But kids, older people and people with compromised immune

systems are especially susceptible.

" I think this story is extremely troubling. Let's put it this way:

If I lived in that house on First Street, my family would not be in

it right now. "

The future is as much a question as the present. The Wests said

there is no resolution in sight.

" We're living with my mom right now, " Amy said. " I don't know where

I'm going to live. And I don't know how I'm going to live.

" Right now, we just don't know what to do. "