Feeling like home again

After six weeks of hard, grimy work, Helen Wong’s house is starting to feel like a home again.

Wong had been stuck in her native China for a year and a half because of travel restrictions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, and was shocked to find her downtown Lewiston home of 30 years trashed by squatters, thieves and vandals upon her return in early June. But a small army of volunteers rallied to the 70-year-old’s side, helping her clean things up and even holding a fundraiser that brought in more than $13,000.

Police reports obtained by the Lewiston Tribune through public record requests showed a long history of problems at the residence while Wong made various trips over the years. Lewiston Police Department Chief Budd Hurd said issues like that can arise when homeowners don’t let police know when they will be away for an extended time and who is authorized to be at a residence.

“We always try to encourage people, if they’re going to be gone for a long period, to give us a heads up,” Hurd said.

The department keeps a list of such notifications and will periodically send extra patrols by residences to see if everything looks good. If it doesn’t, the homeowner’s notice gives them standing to check the property, remove people who shouldn’t be there and arrest them if necessary.

Hurd said his officers have even stopped burglaries in progress while checking on homes they know aren’t supposed to be occupied. Wong is a fairly solitary person, he said, so she never let police know when she would be gone and that nobody else was supposed to be there. That left his officers with few options when her neighbors called police about vagrants abusing the property.

“If the owner is not present, it puts us in a bind,” Hurd said.

Another problem was a tall security fence Wong had installed several years ago that had the unintended effect of shielding her yard and house from view. That allowed squatters to frequently go undetected, said Jodi Brunelle, the retired Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office jailer who set up the fundraiser.

“In the first week (after Wong returned), in that back corner, we were still finding footprints by that fence,” Brunelle said.

Now the fence has been torn down, and Brunelle is using some of the funds she raised to pay for a new chain-link fence that will allow neighbors and law enforcement to get a better view of the property.

“It still gives her that security of feeling like she’s got protection, but it’s now see-through, so when LPD or anybody else goes by, you’ve got that visual where you can tell if anybody is back there,” Brunelle said.

More of the money went to pay back taxes and insurance, and help repair and replace the home’s plumbing and wiring, which had been stripped and sold for scrap. There are some more fixtures and other odds and ends to buy, but once that is done, Brunelle wants to use the balance to pay Wong’s utility bills as far in advance as possible.

On Thursday, three volunteers from local churches were at Wong’s home to do some final deep cleaning, move in some donated furniture and get things organized. Jo Ann Glenn, a member of Granite Lake Community Church, brought bundles of colorful artificial flowers to help brighten some of Wong’s indoor spaces.

Glenn, fellow Granite Lake member Stella Strahan and Sharon Leach from Calvary Chapel of the Lewis-Clark Valley busied themselves sweeping, wiping, scrubbing. They also relocated Wong’s upright piano — pretty much the only thing left behind by the squatters — across the living room.

“I feel this town is so nice,” Wong said about the outpouring of support she’s received. “They even moved the piano from there to there. It was amazing! Now the house looks good.”

Wong said she was initially sad about the loss of many of her possessions, especially some Chinese rosewood furniture she purchased in California 20 years ago and had shipped to Lewiston. But she decided against letting the theft eat her up inside.

“It’s only material,” she said. “I have to live happily. It’s OK. If it’s gone, it’s gone. Now at least (my home) is something to cover my head. It’s very comfortable. They are good people.”

Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2266.