WATCH: Mike Le Couteur reports on the work Ted Kent is doing in building a home and hope for a neighbour.
PETAWAWA – Sharlene Pietersma finally returned to the place where her house once stood.
The 56-year-old victim of a home invasion went to mark the official groundbreaking of her new home that will be built with nothing but the kindness and charity of others.
“It was hard knowing the house was coming down. I wasn’t there for that. Now we’re building new. Now I’m ready,” Pietersma said with a smile. Her home was demolished in December 2014.
In the small town of Petawawa, Ontario, with a population of approximately 16,000 people, the community is coming together to “Bring Sharlene Home” by fundraising and offering free labour to build her a new home that helps her regain her independence and sense of security.
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Many in the community are still shocked about what happened on June 28, 2013 when a man attacked Sharlene and her husband Dan inside their home while they were looking after their grandchildren. Sharlene survived, but Dan died of his injuries. Their grandchildren, both under 10 years old, witnessed the whole incident but were left unharmed. A 17-year-old girl was also attacked by the man, about a block from the house, she survived.
The road to recovery has been a long for Pietersma, who suffered from multiple stab wounds, lost her eyesight, sense of smell and taste, and spent months learning to walk again after her vertebrae was damaged. Once she left the hospital she was unable to return to the home where she had lived for 33 years, and raised two children with her husband.
“I couldn’t walk the halls in the other place. I couldn’t go back there,” Pietersma said.
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Her family decided to help her sell the home. Her brother, Doug Liot, contacted Ted Kent, owner of Kent Construction, to have a look at the house, but he told them it would cost more to fix the home than it would to rebuild it. When Kent learned about Pietersma’s story, he realized he couldn’t take her money, and then he had an idea. He was going to get the community to back him up to build her a new home.
Liot remembers his conversation with Kent that day: “The look on his face, his eyes got really big like a deer in the headlights, a smile went on his face, and the light bulb went off on the top of his head, and he said ‘we’re going to do this with the backing of the community and she’s going to go home mortgage-free.'”
That was about six months ago, and now Kent said about 35-40 companies have agreed to work for free to build Pietersma a new home. Pietersma calls Kent her “Angel bear” because of his big hugs and all that he’s doing for her. She said that Kent and the community’s support has renewed her faith in mankind.
Kent said that he feels protective of Pietersma. He lost his mother this year, and he feels that in a way, she’s become like a mother to him. He doesn’t consider himself an angel, he’s doing it because it’s “heart warming.”
“The most important thing for me,” Kent said, “is that she feels safe in her own house.”
He has grand plans for the home with a focus on providing a safe space. One of the reasons the attack happened was because the door was unlocked. So Kent is making sure to include an automatic locking system, with a keypad on the outside, so she can get back inside. He’s also making it wheelchair-accessible, with the inclusion of a second master bedroom for her sister, Heather Liot, who will be sharing the home with her.
After the groundbreaking ceremony, Pietersma and her family can no longer visit the site until the house is finished. They can expect the big reveal sometime in June, when Pietersma will be able to move in.
But Pietersma already has an idea of how the interior of the house will be laid out. Rosemary Vanderspank, who works for Kent, gave her a layout of the home with raised ink, so she can trace her fingers over where her bedroom will be. She’s starting to figure out how to get around by counting how many steps it will be from one room to another.
Other aspects of the home will keep the grandchildren in mind, so they will want to visit the home and be with their grandmother. The details will remain a secret to the family and the public until it’s all finished.
Pietersma is living with her sister, Heather, in a basement apartment while she waits. She can’t work, so she depends on her CPP disability pension, and the kindness of others. On May 9th, the “Bring Sharlene Home” campaign is organizing a dance featuring six bands at the Petawawa Civic Centre to fundraise the remainder of the costs.
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Those from the community who are coming together to help Pietersma say that they can’t give her back what she’s lost, but at least they can try to give her a better – safer – future. Even though the home is being rebuilt in the same place the traumatic incident occurred, Pietersma wants to be in the same space she once shared with her husband and children.
The move-in date is scheduled to be months before the January 2016 court date, when the accused, Brian Goddard, 25, faces one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. Her brother says this will give her time to settle.
“I think that’s going to put everyone at peace and start the healing process that has to be done. I’m glad it’s going to happen before the court date starts. That way Sharlene has time to heal and move on with the next stage in her life,” Liot said.
On the day of the groundbreaking, even after all she’s been through, Pietersma smiles and laughs often, and it’s all because of the joy she has in knowing that her family, Kent, and the community are coming together for her.
Donations can be made at any TD Canada Trust branch quoting account #34002-004-6346922
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