After months of bad news, Shannon Hutchinson wants one thing — to get her mother home.The 37-year-old is reaching out to the community, asking for in-kind donations of building materials or labour to help with repairs on her mother's home after struggling on her own for months."I can't believe — I'm like what did I do wrong to have all this happen," said Hutchinson. "I cry, you know, it's just hard."First, Hutchinson's father, who she said was like her best friend, passed away suddenly due to respiratory failure in early October at the age of 67.While this alone would be tough for anyone to bear, he was in the midst of renovating his and her mother's Courtenay home, which also had a number of problems crop up since he passed away and is now unlivable.Complicating matters is the fact that her 62-year-old mother is agoraphobic — afraid of open or public spaces — and her husband did everything outside the home, from getting groceries to paying the bills."My dad was her life," said Hutchinson. "He was her caregiver for over 20 years."After her husband's death, Hutchinson took over her father's role as much as she could while working and raising her two teenagers.Then her mother's health started deteriorating. She suffered two strokes, one of which was quite serious, and was in hospital care for a few weeks.She was released to Hutchinson's care a few weeks ago and has been living in her rental home in Comox. Her mother has been staying in her 13-year-old son's room while he sleeps on the couch.Hutchinson said her mother's uncomfortable anywhere outside her own home, including at Hutchinson's house."She's not comfortable here; her house was her sanctuary because she didn't leave the house," said Hutchinson. "Her home was her — that's all she has; she just hid in there."Her mother will have major surgery due to 90 per cent blocked carotid arteries in her neck in mid-April and Hutchinson has set a goal to have the home ready to live in when the surgery is complete.Then Hutchinson plans to move in there with her two kids so she can better care for her mom.Hutchinson has been trying to deal with the situation on her own as her boyfriend works in Fort McMurray, and her other family lives far away.She left her job as a medical office assistant a couple of weeks ago so she'd have more time to care for her mom and fix up the home."I've taken compassionate care leave so I can try and get her house done," said HutchinsonHer father had installed new siding and windows on the mobile home, but hadn't finished one inside wall around a window so that wall needs insulated and drywalled.Hutchinson hired a chimney inspector, who deemed the wood stove unsafe so it needs removed.Recently, she went over to check on the home and noticed moisture on the ceiling around the chimney. When she poked at it, the ceiling fell down in the surrounding area. She had contractors in the look and she said the water damage seems to be confined to a couple of areas only.Her mother is now using a walker and Hutchinson wants to replace all of the flooring to make it completely even.Finally, she wants to renovate the bathroom because her mom has trouble getting in and out of the bathtub.She's applying for funding from the Home Adaptations for Independence program at BC Housing, but estimates it will be at least a month before she even finds out if she qualifies.Because she wants to get her mother home as soon as her surgery's complete, Hutchinson is asking the community for help. "I'm asking for people if they have building materials laying around or if they could give me a hand, like if I could get the materials, help me get them installed," said Hutchinson.Anyone will extra building materials or who can volunteer time to help with the work can call Shannon Hutchinson at 250-792-2878.writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com
