READING, Vt. – COVER Home Repair, a nonprofit based in White River Junction that provides urgent home repairs for income-qualifying homeowners at no charge, is in the business of changing lives. This time, COVER volunteer crews are helping a young family with three children, including a remarkable daughter with profound disabilities. This is the story of the complexities of housing in the Upper Valley, and of multiple community organizations coming together to help a young family in Reading, and in effect, helping give the broader community a small boost.
Harlei Pierce, 32, and Melvin Pierce, 33, live in Reading with their three children Jupiter, 13; Astraea, 6; and Astrophel, 3. As the main breadwinner, Melvin is a journeyman plumbing and heating technician who is working on getting his master’s license. Harlei is from Woodstock, where her family has been since the late 1800s. Their son Jupiter will be the sixth generation to go to Woodstock schools.
When Harlei was eight months pregnant with Jupiter (her oldest) they lost their home in Woodstock due to Tropical Storm Irene. The Pierce family moved to Windsor for a time, before moving back to Woodstock, where they ultimately wanted to live. Melvin was working full time, and Harlei was working part time and also going to school to become a hospice nurse.
When their daughter, Astraea, was a few months old, it became apparent she wasn’t hitting milestones and was exhibiting delays. Suddenly, the family was overwhelmed with physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech, neurology, and genetic appointments and tests. Harlei had to stop working and going to school to keep up with all the appointments. Some weeks Astraea had up to 10 appointments per week.
By the time Harlei was pregnant with Astrophel, the family learned that Astraea had a genetic disorder of the STXBP1 gene, which is a profound disability that affects the way the synapses in the brain tell her body what to do. She is unable to talk, walk, or sit up by herself.
This is when the Pierces first connected with COVER Home Repair. COVER and a team of volunteers built a ramp to make it possible for Astraea to safely be brought in and out of her home.
After several years, they finally purchased a home in Reading, in the fall of 2024. They would be able to remain in the Woodstock school system, and their home had a flat yard and a bathroom and bedroom on the first floor for Astraea. Their 1900s home needed work, but they had finally found a home that was – miraculously – accessible and affordable, and where the kids could stay in the same school system.
With assistance from the COVER Store in White River Junction, they purchased replacement doors and home goods at affordable prices, including a beautiful chandelier. In Reading, they received assistance from The Hub, which is a nonprofit that provides a safety net to residents of Barnard, Bridgewater, Killington, Plymouth, Pomfret, Reading, and Woodstock.
Bill Neukomm, a member of the Reading Energy Committee, performed a site visit to the home, to help weatherize it. Of his involvement, Neukomm says, “My involvement was incidental…The energy committee is very happy to have helped a new family in town.”
Days after the Neukomm came out to assess the Pierce’s home, Astraea was using the bathroom and started crying inconsolably. The left side of Astraea’s body had completely seized up, and doctors discovered she had a rare childhood brain cancer. The energy committee’s work paused, and the Pierce’s life became a blur of medical appointments to remove as much of the tumor as possible and then radiation.
Once things settled down with Astraea’s health, the energy committee was able to come back to weatherize the home.
Although Astraea uses a powered chair to move around, she needed a ramp to get easily and safely in or out of her house. Harlei contacted COVER for assistance with building two accessibility ramps, and to modify their bathroom to include a roll-in shower.
This summer, COVER and its volunteers installed an accessible shower in the bathroom and built a ramp in the front entrance of the home. They also repaired rotted decking and installed a ramp by Astraea’s bedroom as a second means of safe egress.
Melvin helped with the plumbing work, and Harlei made lunch for the volunteers when she could, in between appointments at the hospital with her daughter.
This is a story about a bathroom, ramps and other repairs, yes, but it’s also the story of a group of neighbors coming together to help a new family in town. In addition to helping make the young family’s daily realities easier, support from The Hub, the Reading Energy Committee, and COVER will help a family with children stay in a town that is rapidly aging.
For more information, contact Helen Hong, executive director, at helen@coverhomerepair.org or 603-443-2243.
To learn more about applying, volunteering, or supporting COVER’s work, visit www.coverhomerepair.org.
To follow Astraea’s journey, visit www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067667534023&mibextid=ZbWKwL.
To help support the Pierce family, visit www.gofund.me/d906a0df8.