NILES 'Angels' help family who lost its home

A Niles family is buying beds for the Pavolillo daughters.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- Tammy Pavolillo believes her family is surrounded by angels.
The family has been staying in an Austintown motel since their Fifth Street house was deemed unlivable because of toxic mold. The house was demolished and the family's belongings destroyed in September.
A new modular home was delivered Monday and is being attached to the foundation on the same lot.
A Niles family is donating two beds for the Pavolillo children, Krista, 8, and Ashley, 7.
Mrs. Pavolillo said a woman drove up to the house Tuesday, asking for the homeowner. Pavolillo's husband, Michael, emerged from the hole they're digging for a sewer line. The woman asked if the girls would be in one room or two. He told her two.
"She said, 'We're going to buy beds for the girls,'" Mrs. Pavolillo said, starting to cry. "It's a family in Niles and they said they wanted to be anonymous. That's all I know about them."
Mrs. Pavolillo said Monday she was willing to sleep on the floor but she wanted the girls to have beds when the family moved into the house.
Encouragement: Strangers have been driving by the home, honking their horns and giving the family thumbs-up, shouting words of encouragement.
"It's absolutely amazing. People have been fantastic," she said. "All I can say is we've got angels all around us."
A fund for the Pavolillo family has been established at Farmers National Bank branches in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties. The family has received help from the Red Cross, and a Warren woman donated a dinette set. Trinity Lutheran Church of Niles donated $500 and bought silverware, dishes, pots and pans for the kitchen.
The family may be contacted through e-mail at Pavom15@cs.com. A friend gave Mrs. Pavolillo a computer.
Insurance paid for some costs of demolition and buying the new home, but the family has shelled out about $30,000 of their own money to cover expenses.
The home's contents, including all of their furniture, clothes, family pictures and mementos weren't covered. The family also has had to do some of the work themselves.
Even though they haven't been living in the house since early this year, they've continued to make mortgage payments on it. Their property taxes also increased.
When the new house was delivered, some items didn't match what the family ordered and there was some damage. The company told Mrs. Pavolillo the mistakes would be corrected quickly.
Though much work remains, the lifelong city resident believes the worst is over.
"My husband told me, 'We're further along than we were three months ago when we didn't even have a house,'" Mrs. Pavolillo said. "The problems we have now are minimal."
dick@vindy.com