GLOUCESTER, Mass. — A Gloucester family struggling to keep up their home amid health issues and financial strain received an anonymous letter asking that they paint their “eyesore” of a home.
“Please paint me! Eyesore,” the letter reads, mailed without a return address and signed, “Your neighbors.”
“If I have something to say to someone, I’ll come out and say it to them. There’s circumstances for everything,” said homeowner Jim Curcuru, upset that the person didn’t simply talk to him. “It didn’t have to be pointed out that our house needed painting. Everybody can see that.”
Jim, 71, has lived in the Perkins Street home with his wife Marilyn, 72, for their entire marriage. Marilyn grew up in her family home and has never lived anywhere else.
The couple has always taken pride in their home. But 30 years ago, Marilyn was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and later lost her mobility and her ability to work full-time. Fourteen years ago, Jim suffered a heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, later developing kidney issues that would require an eight-day hospital stay in the intensive care unit. Keeping his self-owned business became too difficult.
Over the years, the paint began chipping on the white house, the roof and wheelchair ramp in need of repair.
“As the years went by, we kept saying, ‘We got to do this, we got to do this’ and we just never had the extra money to do it,” Curcuru said. “And I felt bad because it’s my wife’s home. It’s been her home her whole life.”
The letter not only angered Curcuru; his other daughter, Michelle Baran, was upset. Her sister, who lives in the house, has been too busy as their mother’s caretaker to work on the home.
“Your first thought is anger,” Baran said. “And your next thought is, you feel bad for the person, because I’m sure they never in a million years would purposely hurt somebody like that.”
The Curcurus know nearly all their neighbors and have good relationships with them. While they suspect who may have sent the letter, they are less interested in finding the person than they are in letting them know their family circumstances. So they posted a picture of the note on social media, never intending to get the response they did.
The support from both friends and complete strangers was overwhelming. A community member created a GoFundMe account, and, within days, more than $11,000 was raised to restore the family home, from plans for a new roof to siding and windows.
Local businesses offered their services and the city’s mayor stopped by the house to offer her support. Some residents offered to paint the home themselves.
“When I put the letter on Facebook, I didn’t have any idea that this was going to happen,” Curcuru said in tears. “Gloucester’s always been a giving community… It’s humbling.”
Baran was overwhelmed by the response but not shocked by the community’s generosity.
“I grew up here. So I’m not surprised at all,” Baran said. “Especially in the times we’re in now, it’s nice to know that there’s good people out there.”