Texas Veteran Needs Help To Save Damaged Home
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - In his entire adult life, Horace Elliott has known two things: His Fort Worth house and the U.S. Army.
"I went to Germany in '64 and '65 and then they pulled me out of Germany to go to Vietnam," Elliott recalled.
Elliott rolled up his right pants leg to reveal a gnarled and scarred shin.
"Now this leg right here I got messed up in Vietnam," Elliott explained. "I got run over by a five ton truck right there in Vietnam in 1966."
Elliott received an honorable discharge.
"I came straight here then to Fort Worth, Texas and my mother and father were living here then," Elliott said as he sat in a chair in front of the small, green and white house. He's lived there since 1967 and planned on dying here. But just over a year ago, lightning struck.
"The storm came and knocked the branch over the wire," Elliott said. "And then it knocked the whole thing off the back of my wall because the wood was rotten in there."
The smart meter and a window frame were ripped from the rotting wall. "That's what started the whole situation right there," Elliott said.
Elliot has paid people claiming to be electricians more than a thousand dollars. But they didn't get his electricity permanently connected since they didn't get city permits. The electricity would come on for a short time and then the illegal 'hot-wire' would be disconnected.
The "electricians" have disappeared but the problems with the house have not. In fact, the home has deteriorated rapidly.
Other parts of the house, especially around window pains, have rotted. Rodents have begun entering the house through the rotting wall at the rear of the house. And bees have nested in the wood. Broken window panes are covered with paper.
An in-home services provider, Gwen Diggs with NSEAM Live at Home Block Nurse, has found an electrician who might help. But despite trying several resources, she can't find anyone else to come to Elliott's aid. If the house isn't repaired, Elliott may have to be removed from his home.
"Until they get into a situation where they actually need nursing home placement we want them to stay home," Diggs said. "Air conditioners, we need window panes, furniture. We need everything!"
Everybody needs some help," Elliott said. "This is my home. This is where I live. This is where I want to die at."
To find out more or how you can help e-mail: nseamlahbnp@yahoo.com or call: 817-338-2958
(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed)
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