Support jerri, Willy & Suka in restoring their forever home

Catastrophic flooding in Southwestern Connecticut severely impacts first responders and their dog. Please help!

jerri and Willy Wiley are long-time members of Stevenson Volunteer Fire Company, multiple club, humanity and animal rescue volunteers, in their later retired years. For decades they have provided countless numbers of hours running to help others at a moment’s notice, organizing, giving, and supporting. Now, jerri and Willy find themselves on the opposite side of their typical roles.

While driving, halfway across the US with Suka, their spirited husky rescue, they received a tragic life altering phone call. The message was devastating. Rt 34, the roadway directly behind their home on the Monroe/Newtown line, had collapsed on the side abutting their backyard. Their forever home, built by jerri‘s parents over 70 years ago, was unexpectedly and unbelievably being barraged by 2+ foot high, rapidly flowing water. Their property had become a raging river.

What!?! Imagine the powerlessness of receiving that call and not being able to DO anything … rescuers who, while fortunate and grateful to be safe, found themselves nearly helpless.

Upon return, the house was still inaccessible by vehicle. As they took the long walk through the dirt mounds, rocks, trees and debris that was strewn across what had been their driveway (past their lawnmower - once in the pop-up shed, now landed hundreds of feet away), and seeing the terribly sad remains of their dear neighbor’s beautiful home, they wondered, “Will ours still be standing?”

Arriving, they encountered severe damage to the property - dog’s fence, sheds had been moved, pop-ups collapsed, items floated away, and others that were not theirs had appeared. But they were relieved and thankful to see the house itself, though flooded and battered, was miraculously still standing!

Once inside, that brief relief of how well the house withstood the ravages of the flash flood, quickly faded and their hearts crumbled in the disaster left behind. Such a sad scene.… the entire first floor, having been under 6+ inches of floodwater, now receded into a covering of saturated carpet, mud, silt, and debris. Water had been absorbed into the walls, floors, supplies, clothing, family heirlooms… much likely unsalvageable. The condition of the well and many other aspects of the house remained unknown. Assessment of the severity of the damage is still underway.

For Willy and jerri, it isn’t just about salvaging a house to live in. It’s about preserving their and her parents’ efforts, all the memories - daily, to holidays, to monumental moments like their wedding - and having the security of this home they knew and planned to know for the rest of their life.

Overtaken by the daunting overwhelm of where to begin, and how to rebuild with no recovery from insurance…. They find themselves in a dually unprecedented circumstance - displaced and uncharacteristically in need of assistance. They had always been the ones to offer help, not ask for it! - even when each of them had previously endured a major health challenge, they did so independently.

It is with great reluctance and embarrassment to ask, please consider a donation of any size to support them along in the recovery of their life and forever home - it would be greatly appreciated.

True to character, as volunteers and first responders with others’ needs always top of mind, should donations be received beyond the need for reestablishing their own home (repairing the driveway and yard, replacing all flooring, walls, cabinetry, doors, appliances, paint, outbuildings), jerri and Willy will then donate to those also in natural disaster recovery and/or animal crisis.

A sincere thank you in advance for your time, consideration, and donation!

[written on behalf of jerri & Willy by a caring comrade]

Update as of December 20, 2024: rebuilding going much slower than we'd expected it to take. Walls and floors have been reinstalled, but walls are still bare sheetrock and continue to slough off white dust, next steps are getting all rooms painted so we can move back in. Still need to install 2 doors, but the good news is we now have a door on the bathroom! Suka's yard is in much better shape but still covered in sand that the river gave us as it took away the topsoil. The fence has been repaired so she can have some good runs (zoomies is a better description).

We are so thankful to all those who have contributed to help us rebuild. You are amazing friends!

Suka's yard showing flood damage. Friends spent a Saturday helping us clear it of debris, and level the ground. Next step is to put topsoil over the remaining sand.