Single mom wants someone to pay for damaged home
The very thing that is supposed to be making Monelle LaBelle’s community better could also be tearing her home apart — literally.
LaBelle hobbles to the door with a smile and starts giving a tour of her house. She’s a single mom, on a disability benefit, with a fixed income.
And her home on the 1300 block of Argyle Street is, as she puts it, “falling apart literally around me.”
LaBelle believes the construction of a new school across the street — particularly digging and piling work done by heavy machinery — is causing the damage.
The house was built in 1922; she moved in over a decade ago and, save for some general wear and tear, says it’s served her well.
“Your home is secure, it’s supposed to be your pride and joy. I picked this house because I liked it, I could afford it, it was cute, and the history that went with the house,” says LaBelle. “Who wouldn’t want a little house like this?”
The first Friday of October in 2015 was a significant day for LaBelle and her neighbours: It was the day the first sod was turned for a new Sacred Heart Community School.
Built in 1928, the original school had its own damage. The gym, falling apart with light fixtures dropping from walls and ceilings, was deemed dangerous.
Scheduled to open in September, the school features a statue of custom brickwork, Tyndall stone and columns taken from the old Sacred Heart site.
Meanwhile, directly across the street from the new build site, ground surrounding LaBelle’s home is caving in, the stucco gashing as walls and door frames contort inside.
It’s generally tough to be upset with a new school coming to your community, yet there are 10 houses directly across the street from the new Sacred Heart, and neighbours will openly complain about the construction of the school if you bang on their doors, asking for thoughts.
Of the six that the Leader-Post spoke to, five raised concerns with the construction across the street.
Mia Fogarty lives with her family a few doors down from LaBelle.
“My kids go here. In the end, the benefits are going to be good for the community,” she says, before adding, “it’s a huge nuisance.”
Her main bother is the available street parking — a rare commodity as it is, but worsened by construction workers reporting for duty.
Then there is the noise and the shaking.
“Pictures will fall off the wall from the vibrations. I’ve had mirrors, fall and smash. Picture frames break and smash,” she says, noting there is also a kitchen ceiling crack inside, which is getting bigger.
Another neighbour, Elizabeth Hourie, says her landlord is looking into damages potentially caused by the school’s construction.
An emailed statement from Twylla West, the spokeswoman for the Regina Catholic School Division (RCSD) says beyond LaBelle, no other neighbours have mentioned damages to their homes.
LaBelle recalls a hunk of ceiling once dropped on her as she napped. Her home noticeably shook and a big chunk of it shocked her awake.
“They were pounding and drilling. I was in a complete sleep and it literally all fell on my head while I was sleeping,” she says, pointing to exposed rafters gaping above a bed.
The needed repairs kept growing and LaBelle, labouring along with cane in hand, did her best to keep up.
Shifting and sinking foundations are not foreign to Regina, but it wasn’t covered in LaBelle’s insurance policy.
In August, she put a claim into her insurer, Aviva. It was declined in October.
LaBelle points to photos that show damage to her home worsening as the construction continues, but excluded from her insured losses or damages were events caused directly or indirectly by earth movement.
Water can seep into LaBelle’s basement, so a fan is kept running. She covers missing chunks of wall with adornments.
Sacred Heart Community School is starting to look complete. Ready to accommodate 700 students from pre-kindergarten to Grade 8, it’s billed as a state-of-the-art school, brimming with innovation.
Being able to definitively say the problems in LaBelle’s home are caused by the school’s construction is not easy.
“I’m not going to confirm it is or isn’t. We’re working with her current insurer (Aviva) to try and find a solution,” says Jason Galon, a third-generation member of the family-operated Galon Insurance Brokers.
With the damages not covered in any case, LaBelle manages repairs with the little extra cash she has at the end of the roughly $1,670 she’s allotted each month.
“Every time I try and fix something, something else breaks,” she says.
The province funded the construction by putting up $27 million for the new school.
When LaBelle took her concerns to the province’s Ministry of Education, she was encouraged to “continue working collaboratively with the school division on any issues you may have with the contractors on the site.”
The school division encouraged her to work through the insurance providers, though they told the Leader-Post they are not aware of any action from the insurance companies.
“Our insurance policy will address Ms. LaBelle’s allegations. The insurance company will make the decision whether or not there is culpability on the school division’s part,” reads the emailed statement from West.
LaBelle doesn’t have anywhere else to turn, and whether or not she is insured now, is up in the air.
A letter from Aviva dated Feb. 10 tells her that, “after careful consideration, we regret to inform you we are discontinuing your insurance coverage,” adding that the “risk no longer meets underwriting guidelines.”
Galon is trying to get an amended policy put in place, but says it is likely LaBelle is going to have to repair her home before that can happen.
Aviva refused to comment specifically about LaBelle, despite her willingness to grant them permission to do so, citing privacy and legal concerns.
The construction site at the school has a sign that says, “built with community in mind,” and Sacred Heart is billed by the province and school division as a community hub.
But LaBelle isn’t so sure, because while Sacred Heart is getting replaced, her home isn’t.
“They’re sitting there talking about care and consideration, and yet windows, glass, everything is falling,” she says.