Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WEST VALLEY CITY -- A couple who purchased a home only to find it was contaminated by meth now have a practically new house with the help of a handful of local businesses and a host of volunteers.
Josh and Linnette Harms were determined to live in their newly purchased home, even after finding out about it was in unlivable condition from the contamination. After buying the house, a neighbor told them it may be contaminated, and tests concluded that levels were so high the health department barred entry. In October, the couple had no idea how they were going to finance to decontamination and other expenses to make it livable, as they had spent their savings on the home.
"I first saw this story on the news last year sometime and remember thinking what a raw deal that it was to buy a house and not be able to live in it," said Rick Mottes, a volunteer with the Habitat for Humanity.
Linnette and Josh could have walked away, let a house they couldn't live in go into foreclose.
"I'm not going to. I'm too strong," Linnette Harms said. "I'm just going to keep going until it's resolved and my kids have a nice, comfortable, clean house to live in."
Habitat for Humanity was joined by other local businesses and volunteers who tore down the walls to the studs and financed the rebuild, and Crime Scene Cleaners decontaminated the house.
We remove the problem of meth homes in these neighborhoods that not only harm the person buying the home or owning the home, it harms the entire neighborhood and the community.
–- Ed Blake, Habitat for Humanity
"Holy cow. We got so many people to come in here and help us that I can't even begin to thank everybody," Linnette Harms said. "We couldn't have done it without Habitat because they donated so much of their time and so much of their funds that we couldn't even had made it this far."
The couple worked alongside the volunteers to make their house a place to live.
"To have Josh and Linnette here day in and day out working shoulder-to-shoulder with the volunteers is incredible upon itself -- that they see it as a partnership," said Ed Blake, of Salt Lake Valley Habitat for Humanity.
Blake said the non-profit isn't just helping this couple, but every homeowner who lives on their street.
"We remove the problem of meth homes in these neighborhoods that not only harm the person buying the home or owning the home, it harms the entire neighborhood and the community," Blake said.
Blake expects there will be other homes to renovate and decontaminate. As for the Harms, they expect to have the carpet laid in their house on Monday, and they plan on moving in next weekend, more than six months after buying the house.
"To go from the very beginning and find out that it's a meth house and just be completely distraught, to (being) so excited inside my self right now," Linnette Harms said.
Habitat for Humanity is able to help because of donations, Blake said. Donations can be made on Utah State tax forms.
