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Charlie Benton/cbenton@cherokeescout.com A Cherokee County woman has reclaimed her home with help from Four Square Community Action, which is based in Andrews.
A Cherokee County woman has a safe, comfortable environment to live in again after being aided by Four Square Community Action.
Carrie Khaddour, who lives in far west Cherokee County near the Tennessee line, credited the agency with removing a vermin infestation, repairing the roof of her mobile home and numerous other improvements aimed at making her Pleasant Hill Road home habitable and safe.
She said her issues began with an infestation of gopher rats after many other homeowners left the area.
“There were a bunch of holes and erosion,” Khaddour said. “We had an especially rainy year, and that made it even worse.
“First they migrated, and then when the flooding came they went to higher ground because normally these rodents don’t come up. They basically spend their whole lives underground.”
She said the rodents got into her trailer during the rainy weather.
“I live caught and shot with a BB gun about 84 of them,” Khaddour said. “They were coming in my house. I got to where I was sleeping when they slept and waking when they woke.
“It wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when. They were everywhere.”
She said that her hot water heater was also damaged around the same time that she was dealing with the gopher rats.
“It blew a hole in it and ran water everywhere in my house,” Khaddour said. “It was a mess in here, I’m telling you.”
She said the problem had gotten so bad that she has been storing food outside of her house in an attempt to prevent it from being eaten and contaminated.
“I kept it in my truck,” Khaddour said.
She discussed the help she received from Four Square started last year. She lauded coordinator Dillon Gibson of Andrews for ensuring work was completed on her home.
“He didn’t promise me everything, but what he did promise me they did,” Khaddour said. “I’ve seen a lot of problems in my day, but this was a big one, and it was more than I could manage. They had a pest control come out here. I pretty much had them cleaned out by that time, but I’d got tired of fighting them.”
She said one of the crews brought by Four Square had also insulated her trailer, cutting her heating bills by $200.
“It was a difference between life and death for me,” Khaddour said. “It really was. This can’t get much greater than that, and for anyone who needs this help, it is a godsend. That’s about all I could say, and the people that are working at Four Square now are a great bunch.”
Four Square offers several community action programs in Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Swain counties.