This young mom and her two young children lived in a roomy basement apartment. But then the hot water radiators leaked and both bedrooms were flooded. Mould quickly formed on their mattresses and they had to be thrown out. Their landlord was not willing to repair the problem.
Before
The boy had slept on mattresses stacked on the floor.
The bigger bedroom was shared by the mom and her young daughter. After the flood, a friend gave them a couch to sleep on. But there was still evidence of moisture in both the carpet and drywall.
A second used couch was placed in the living room for sleeping.
The landlord had a maintenance worker “wash” the mould from the walls. But of course, it quickly returned. By this time skin rashes and bad coughs were symptoms of mould infestation. We encouraged the mom to contact the social worker who had found this apartment for them. The social worker was very concerned and soon found them a much better place with three bedrooms and lots of sunshine.
After
We purchased a mate’s bed at Habitat for Humanity ReStore for the girl. We cleaned, primed and painted it white, then added new knobs to the drawers. It was a perfect match for the white dresser we provided. The new mattress and linens were topped with a lovely hand stitched quilt and matching sham. This girl is a reader so she liked having two pillows for reading in bed. The sheer window panel was hung on a new pole and looked lovely with the quilt. A roller blind was hung beneath the curtain to block early morning light.
A second mate’s bed for the boy just needed a good cleaning and new knobs. We moved in a wooden chest of drawers to maximize storage with a small footprint. New linens and window covering were added and school supplies provided for both children.
A local donor offered a twin extra long mattress and box spring just as we were about to finish the children’s rooms. We do not normally need such a long bed for a child. But this family had lost all of their beds due to mould, so we gladly accepted the donation. We sourced bedding and set it up in the mom’s room. She was so pleased.