FoCo party leaves 89-year-old with $6000 reno

After 25,000 students descended on Broughdale Avenue this weekend, one longtime resident says she’s left with a $6,000 reno bill.

Bess Srahulek, 89, is once again having to deal with the aftermath of Western’s Fake Homecoming (FoCo) and damage to her house.

Due to partiers hopping onto the flat part of her roof, a large crack has formed in her ceiling.

After speaking with a repairman, she said if she wants to permanently fix the problem and stop the students they will have to build a slope.

“It’s upsetting, but it would be upsetting to most people to see your yard taken over with people peeing on your door, peeing in your shed, fighting on your lawn, knocking over your roses,” said Srahulek.

“It has to stop. It just has to stop.”

This not the first time Srahulek’s house has been damaged by students parting.

In 2017, the partiers trampled her garden, which prompted students and the community to come together and repair the damage by planting a new one.

After her roof was damaged, Srahulek said police advised her to leave and stay in a hotel for the night, which cost the 89-year-old $163.

She added that worrying about the damage to her house every year is not helping her high blood pressure, which has resulted in her having to take a few trips to the emergency room.

Second-year nursing student Laura Matias said she was heartbroken when she heard what happened.

Matias, with the help of a friend, set up a GoFundMe page to cover some of the costs.

“We initially reached out to the community to write letters to her and then eventually people said they really wanted a GoFundMe so they could help her and it just took off from there,” Matias said.

The 89-year-old resident has lived on the street since 1960 and despite years of Homecoming and FoCo parties she does not plan on leaving any time soon.

“Although my time is limited, I still hope to stay in this house until I am on to the next stage of life.”

“You have to stop it and realize it’s getting out of control, it has to stopped. It’s too expensive and really to anybody’s frame of mind that is not the proper way to live.”