DETROIT – Charlene Breakfield wants to go home.
The 74-year-old had five strokes and a heart attack. Her son, whom she lives with now, knows he cannot talk her out of it.
“We’ve been in that house for 30-35 years,” Breakfield said. “We’ve all raised our children in that neighborhood and I just love my little house.”
It’s why she was devastated when she came home from the hospital to find her Detroit home on Vaughan Street ransacked.
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“The house was destroyed. It was like they dumped everything on the floor, every drawer, every cabinet. It was quite heartbreaking,” she said.
The thieves also took the water heater and furnace. The door was left open, leading to a rodent and pest infestation
“I could not believe that anybody would do something like that,” Breakfield said.
So far, Breakfield hasn’t gotten anything from her insurance company except requests for more paperwork, and she and her family cannot afford a new water heater and furnace.
But she is determined to get home.
“I love my house. I want to get back to the house that they grew up in. And all my neighbors. We’re all old now but we like to be together. And I would go over there and talk with them -- the neighbors-- about everything going on,” she said.
A GoFundMe account has been created.