And Ms Vilma isn't the only one who is getting some housing help. 85-year-old Chester Baptist lives directly in front of the King Street Police Station, and his home has been slowly deteriorating. It got to the point where even walking up the stairs, or on the floorboards, was dangerous.
But with help from some of the police officers, and an old time friend, Baptist is getting his house renovated. Today, he told us that even though he knows his house can withstand a lot more damage, he's grateful for the help.
Chester Baptist, Getting Assistance
"I went away and my house start to get dilapidated, start to fade away, and when I came back, this is what it was left with. But I feel good because then they help put the material in, but for sponsor, it's the owner of Seasports, John Searle, he's my ex boss and my personal friend. When I was in the hospital, he was there every night."
"These boards are kind of difficult but I got a young boy to put these boards here, they're new floors, according to him, he charged me $400 to do from here to there."
Courtney Menzies:
"But the rest of the house is still relatively old, right?"
Chester Baptist, Getting Assistance
"Yes, the rest of the house older than me. This one is quite good, the hurricane passed and didn't blow it down."
Courtney Menzies:
"But aren't you afraid that it falls one day or it shakes or you drop through?"
Chester Baptist, Getting Assistance
"No, no. I always say, what will happen, will happen."
Courtney Menzies:
"But you are grateful to the police officers who are helping?"
Chester Baptist, Getting Assistance
"Yeah, yeah, as a matter of fact, in the night, when I get sick, it's them who drop me to the hospital."
Courtney Menzies:
"Are you excited to see how it will look when they are finished?"
Chester Baptist, Getting Assistance
"Yes man, yes. I appreciate it."
And the renovations are a collaborative effort between the owner of Seasports Dive Shop, John Searle, and the officers of King Street. Searle explained that when he learnt that the officers often do community work, he knew that Baptist was the perfect candidate. And the commander of one of the police teams told us that they've always done what they can to help their elderly neighbor.
John Searle, Owner, Seasports/Friend
"Just by an off chance conversation I had with Sergeant Teck. I came to visit Mr Chester one even and I had to park in front of the police station and so Sergeant Teck came out and we were talking and he mentioned that he does some projects up in Carmelita and I said well, Mr Chester really needs some help down here. And he said, well, if we could all pitch in, then this could be a good community project for his police department right here."
"When we first came, the stairs were in really bad shape, and the front wall facing King Street was in really bad shape, but Sergeant Teck is very resourceful because he had a bunch of people that donated to him and he was able to get lumber for the front wall, for the steps, he was able to get some material to fix the windows and just this morning we realized we were a little bit short because we wanted to do repairs on the back wall so that's why you see I just brought in the plywood."
"Mr Chester is one of the last remaining waterfront guys from North Front Street, one of those guys that used to hang out on the tugboats, Mr Chester is an engineer and he's actually been on ships all around the world, but he used to work on the tugboats right on North Front Street and that's where I met him."
Inspector Everon Teck Sr., Commander, Team # 3, Precinct 1
"As a team we came up with this initiative, as you quite all know, this type of program is being done countrywide. Precinct 1 is divided into four sectors and we have taken up sector 3 which is this area and we have noticed that Mr Chesterfield Baptist house was in urgent need of repair, so we took up that initiative to help Mr Chesterfield with the repairs."
Courtney Menzies:
"You said you noticed as time went on, that the house was getting worse and worse."
Inspector Everon Teck Sr., Commander, Team # 3, Precinct 1
"And the hurricane came and it made it much worse because practically we could have seen through and through this house. That's the reason we took up that initiative."
Courtney Menzies:
"And you guys also help Mr Chester in other ways."
Inspector Everon Teck Sr., Commander, Team # 3, Precinct 1
"Yes, whenever he needs assistance to go to the hospital, we are readily available, he just come across or we go over there on a regular basis and whenever he wants to go to the hospital, we take him to the hospital."
The officers will also try to get a new bed for Baptist.
