Bedford County veteran dealing with mold in house

‘Go to your room’ is a common phrase parents tell their kids.

Deshano Hood can’t say that to his 10-year-old daughter, Whitney Nash.

For months mold has spread throughout her bedroom wall inside Hood’s Bedford County home on Somerset Drive, causing concern for Hood and his wife April.

The mold has prevented Whitney from using the room since October. It was first spotted in July but Hood doesn’t know for sure when it started.

Hood, a Lynchburg native who was injured in 1995 while stationed in Europe, is having issues fixing it.

He is confined to a wheelchair and paralyzed from the chest down.

The mold repair would cost up to $30,000 and his insurance company won’t cover the damage because he didn’t report it quickly enough, he said.

“I don’t feel like any person should have to go through this,” said Hood, 36.

A representative of the insurance company said the firm would not address the matter or provide details of its dealings with Hood because of privacy issues.

Dan Currie, a Lynchburg area homebuilder, inspected the damage in late 2008. He said he believes the mold was caused by a leak from Hood’s shower in a nearby room.

“That appears to be what is going on,” Currie said in a recent phone interview. “…It (mold) will continue to grow, unless it’s resolved.”

The shower is still usable, Currie said, but no one has been able to go in and repair it yet.

“The economy is in such poor shape,” Currie said. “As a small building contractor, I certainly don’t have the funds to donate time and material.”

John Lewandowski, president of the Disabled Committee on Housing in Winchester, is corresponding with Hood to help resolve the problem.

The nonprofit formed last year and seeks to assist disabled veterans with housing needs. It is working with disabled veterans in Roanoke, Richmond and northern Virginia also, Lewandowski said.

“Our committee has found there are so many veterans who have gotten out of hospitals who are not aware there is an organization out there that can get them help from the federal government for their houses,” said Lewandowski, a Vietnam veteran who like Hood uses a wheelchair.

Lewandowski recently started a fund to help repair Hood’s shower leak.

So far he said the Home Depot Foundation has given a $1,000 gift card to use for materials and Dal-tile Corporation, a Dallas-based firm, has donated tile. Roughly $20,000 is still needed in donations to pay for the labor to repair the water damage.

“This guy went out and fought for you to keep you and your family safe,” he said. “What if this was your family? What would you do?”

Hood welcomes the support.

“He’s like a Godsend,” Hood said of Lewandowski. “He looks out for a veteran. There’s not enough words to express how glad I am that I got in touch with him.”

Since moving into the home in 2004, Hood said there are other issues that need fixing to make it more handicapped accessible.

Currie said he noticed there isn’t an accessible commode with rails and the bathtub isn’t designed for a handicapped person. The front door also has a threshold that isn’t flat for someone with a wheelchair to easily maneuver in and out of.

Hood said he isn’t able to take any recourse against the builder because that person died.

Leaving the home isn’t an option either because he believes he has met his ownership requirements.

“I’m holding my end of the bargain,” said Hood. “I’m not going to foreclose on the house.”

Since Hood is staying put, Lewandowksi said his foremost concern is for the family’s safety because of potential health risks due to mold exposure.

Hood is keeping the room closed off from the rest of the house until it is fixed.

Lewandowksi mentioned Hood’s case while appearing before a Congressional subcommittee for housing of veterans’ affairs a few months ago, he said.

Requiring that home insurance companies cover disabled veterans in cases of water damage or mold is an issue Lewandowski said he hopes the subcommittee will look into.

If time limitations to report a claim come into play, he said disabled veterans should get more leeway because their physical ability to identify water damage may be limited from the outset.

All Lewandowski said he wants is to see the looks on veterans’ faces — and Deshano Hood’s — when their homes are fixed.

“I’m not looking to get one red cent.”