Home makeover will help Canfield family

CANFIELD — For Rebecca Bailing, the purchase of a house on Shields Road was “a dream come true.” But the mother of three quickly realized after moving that the house was a nightmare.

Things didn’t start out well. On her first day at the house in September 2004, she found hundreds and hundreds of flying ants inside.

After the ants, it was mice.

It moved on to poorly installed windows, a severely damaged roof, water in the house, septic backup, mold on the walls causing the family to become ill, the housing moving off its foundation and all sorts of other problems.

“The house was a lost hope,” Bailing said. “There were always problems with it. It was just too much. It would have taken forever to have it all fixed.”

Community volunteers will raze and rebuild Bailing and family’s house on Shields Road in Canfield, starting Tuesday. It’s slated to be finished Nov. 30.

Read more about this volunteer effort — which still needs some helpers and dollars — in Sunday’s Vindicator and at Vindy.com