Help Lili and Pete Rebuild After Landslide

As homeowners, we all face a continuous stream of maintenance and repairs to keep our homes safe and to protect our investment. This is just an expected and necessary part of homeownership. But for longtime Monroe residents Lili Michols, career Monroe educator, and her husband, Pete Ehrismann, owner of Apex Door of CT, an unprecedented landslide, brought on by the historic storm of August 18th and 19th, destroyed much of their property. One of Pete’s work trucks was buried under a mix of debris, huge felled trees and boulders, and another vehicle, a small SUV, was lifted off the ground and thrown onto a fallen tree and now is perched, precariously dangling vertically over the ground. To compound the situation, the half mile long driveway was destroyed, with large sections completely washed away, leaving no choice but to leave incoming vehicles on the lower end of the driveway and hike about ten minutes on foot up the steep and rocky mountain to get to their house. Because of this impasse, they are unable to get trucks and equipment up to the house to begin any work and Pete is unable to drive his other work truck from the house to the road so that he can work. We are looking for support for initial expenses that they are or will be encountering while they begin the restoration process, starting with the reconstruction of the washed out driveway. The initial estimates just to get started on repairs to the driveway that will enable the large excavation and construction equipment to get up to the property are prohibitive, exceeding 200,000 dollars. To make matters worse, none of the damage is covered under their homeowners insurance policy, because coverage for that type of natural disaster requires an Earth Movement Supplemental Policy in place, which they did not have.

As the saying goes, “It takes a village.” While the donation goal is a significant amount, we are grateful for any amount that can be raised. Lili and Pete realize that there are many townspeople in need right now, and appreciate any donation, large or small. Thank you!