Marie Bertacco and Joey Williams Jr. of 865 Babine Crescent can finally breathe a huge sigh of relief.

As reported in Lakes District 亚洲天堂 edition of Aug. 27, 2008 the couple were told renovations on the home were to be carried out, however the renovations never happened .... until now.

The couple say that for close to a decade they have been waiting for desperately needed renovations and mould re mediation on their Woyenne Reserve home.

Black mould thrived in the home, spreading through the kitchen, basement and bathroom.

The floors were bare, the furnace needed replacing, windows were broken and both doors to the house were not sealed, allowing cold air to gush into the home during the winter months.

鈥淲ater would pour into the bathroom in the rainy season, we had to use buckets and there was mould growing in the ventilation fans,鈥� said Bertacco.

She said after they moved in during 2001, the house was inspected several times and it was deemed that the repairs were necessary. They were also promised many times by the past administration of Lake Babine Nation that the home was next in line for repairs .... but those repairs never came.

鈥淭his went on for a decade,鈥� Bertacco added.

鈥淓verything just got progressively worse and the past administration ignored us,鈥� Bertacco said.

鈥淚 now have bleach sensitivity as I got sick cleaning the mould with bleach all the time. Now when I am near bleach, even heavily diluted bleach my eyes, nose and throat burn. I ended up having to use vinegar to clean,鈥� Bertacco said.

鈥淚 grew up here,鈥� said Williams adding that it was previously his grandparents house.

鈥淭heir old house was torn down and this one was built in its place, it is my family home so it is nice to see it looking like this ... it smells so good now,鈥� he said.

The entire house has now been renovated, and a new feature wall has even been added in the living room to separate the front door entry.

A new door way has been added to one of the bedrooms, as well as walls in the basement to close off rooms.

鈥淣obody would come and stay with us, or visit. If they had come once they certainly would never come back again,鈥� Bertacco said adding that only family friend and local resident Helene Brunette would come and visit.

Brunette said to Lakes District 亚洲天堂, 鈥淚t is a big difference, this is so much better than before.

鈥淒oug Waters [the contractor], said that they would take three weeks, and they did. They did a really good job,鈥� added Williams.

鈥淧eople in town have been asking for years if our house has been renovated and we always said no, now we can say yes ... finally,鈥� Bertacco said with a smile adding that she appreciated the all the prayers and the interest locals took in their story.

Bernard Patrick, Lake Babine Nation鈥檚  housing director said they are now finishing up on a number of other housing renovations on the reserve.

鈥淭his now gives us the opportunity to make another submission to Indian and Northern Affairs Canada for further funding for more renovations,鈥� Patrick said.

He went on to say that the housing department is anticipating being able to start further home renovations by the end of April this year.