Lawrence House residents ‘take the Moses approach’ with vigil

Doug Baschiere, Lawrence House resident and member of the tenant organization, says he has faith things can change for Lawrence House if they can persuade owners Sam and Don Menetti to keep the building up.

It was more of a collective, spiritual groan than anything. Hundreds of people gathered on the street Monday evening – singing, praying, raising their hands – all petitioning for the same thing: that the residents of Lawrence House be kept safe from harm.

It wasn’t just hypothetical. This Sunday, there was yet another fire in the 12-story Uptown building when a 5th floor unit caught on fire while its occupant was at church. Five people were sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation, although there were no futher injuries and the cause of the fire is still unknown.

To many residents, the struggle to fix serious building code violations, problems with pests, vermin and the like has become a religious one. Doug Baschiere compares the tenant organization to Moses, continually asking Pharoah to free his people.

“We pray that you can change the hearts of those who can make decisions,” prayed one local pastor, while another asked for, “freedom from dirt and  freedom from vermin.”

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Baschiere, who’s lived in Lawrence House for almost 3 years, says he wants to try and be more diplomatic with the building’s owners, Don and Sam Menetti, who’ve been blamed for the building’s problems.

He’s had his own problem with roaches and mice and seen quite a few of his neighbors struggle to get work orders done or deal with the building staff.

“We know it’s never going to become a triple-A hotel, but we do want to try to keep things comfortable and appealing,” says Baschiere.

He acknowledges that the Menettis have fixed some code violations, and he wonders what the real costs are for operating the building, or if the family keeps the building for tax write-off purposes. Baschiere says they might never really know, but in the mean time, he’ll keep petitioning for things to change.

“Moses just kept coming back to Pharoah,” he says. “You can wear a person out that way. Hopefully, something will change.”