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Jim Kolessar has lived at the Sandy Point Mobile Home Park in the Lake Hopatcong section of Jefferson Township since 1995, according to a GoFundMe launched in his support.
Kolessar’s trailer was destroyed in a sudden and fast-moving fire on Tuesday, May 18 around 6:20 a.m., according to the fundraiser, launched Wednesday by Sharon Sutton Leek.
“Jim was able to get out just in time before his entire home was engulfed in flames,” reads the page, which is accompanied by photos of the devastating blaze. “Unfortunately, the fire was very fast moving and there was nothing that could be saved of Jim's home.”
To make matters worse, Kolessar, who had been working as a self-employed dry cleaning delivery serviceman before the pandemic, had allowed his homeowners insurance to lapse due to financial difficulties.
“With the onset of the pandemic, Jim found himself with little work and struggling to make ends meet,” Leek writes. “With little more than social security for an income, Jim made the unfortunate choice to let his homeowners policy lapse.”
Meanwhile, Kolessar’s neighbors are helping with cleanup and immediate essentials; however, one of his cats, Jessie, is still missing, and the process of rebuilding his trailer is a lengthy one.
“Unfortunately, there are new federal guidelines for construction and inspections of new trailers from the factory that make the cost of a trailer no longer a very affordable option for people of minimal means,” the fundraiser says.
“With some of Jim's savings, volunteers and through this GoFundMe, we hope to be able to raise enough money to help Jim rebuild his home and stay here in the community he knows and loves.”
More than $2,500 had been donated to the cause as of Thursday morning with an end goal of $30,000.
“Times are tough and the pandemic has many of us doing what we can to get by," Leek writes. "Every contribution helps, no matter how small.”
Click here to view/donate to Jim’s Housing Fund on GoFundMe.
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