A man from Niverville is primed to launch a fundraiser to help the victims of Fine Haus Builders, a disgraced home construction company whose customers are dubbing them a scam. The company abruptly shut down operations this fall, leaving many homebuyers and tradespeople out thousands of dollars.
Barry Piasta was so moved by stories of these victims that he decided to turn empathy into action. On February 29, Piasta and others will host an evening fundraiser featuring renowned comedian Matt Falk. The event will take places at the Ste. Agathe Community Hall from 5:00–10:00 p.m.
Admission will be by donation at the door.
“We suggest that you give what you are comfortable with,” says Piasta. “It’s a fundraiser, but it’s [also] about community showing that we help each other and we take care of each other.”
Along with a family-friendly stand-up comedy show, attendees can expect to find a variety of games and auctions. There will also be a pizza and drink dinner for just $5. Family pricing will be available for dinner.
Piasta encourages adults to bring a little extra cash to participate in games, the proceeds of which will also go towards the victims fund.
“The looney auction [will be] a variation of the coin toss, with a hint of musical chairs, and a twist of lime,” Piasta jokes. “I promise, no citrus fruits will be harmed.”
The evening will also include unique twists on games like Simon Says and a chance to put your detective cap on and be the first to solve a mystery.
Donations and Volunteers
When Piasta began soliciting donations for the event, he was overwhelmed by the immediate response from the business community. Everything from signage to tickets, from the hall rental to auction items, have been been graciously provided for.
As well, Falk is providing his half-hour stage show at no cost. Forty-five large pizzas are being donated by some of Niverville’s finest pizza restaurants. Piasta has also received cash donations to cover other expenses, and a variety of individuals have offered to whip up some delectable pies for the auction.
And while Piasta has taken on most of the organization and planning for the event by himself, he’s humbled by people’s willingness to participate.
“So many have told me they want to help and that they feel for those hurt by Fine Haus,” he says. “It’s those who donate time, items, and skills that make the fundraiser. It’s the people who attend that make the fundraiser. They do all the important stuff. I just throw out the marbles and hope they land in the right spot.”
At this stage, Piasta is still in need of volunteers to help oversee the games, collect donations, serve pizza, and set up and take down the hall. As well, he hopes people will take the initiative to invite family and friends and get word out to the nearby communities.
In the end, his goal is not to attempt to recoup all the losses experienced by the many victims of Fine Haus but rather to provide a community gift to them in order to demonstrate the acts of kindness and caring that small towns are known for.
“No matter what the outcome of the event, I will continue to work on helping our community heal from this incident and organize groups in our community who can help [the victims] through their skills, labour, and connections,” Piasta says.
Fine Haus Victims Move On
The Kaminskis were just one of the many families who’ve been forced to count their losses and move on after realizing their new home build would never happen. Thankfully, they’re enjoying the purchase of another home in Niverville and trying to put the nightmare of the last six months behind them.
“We’ll survive and move on,” says Chris Kaminski. “I’ll use more due diligence in the future, but what more can you really do?”
Kaminski and his wife began house-hunting in Niverville several years ago. They wanted a rural home close to plenty of amenities for their family of four. The right opportunity seemed to present itself last summer when they saw an ad by Fine Haus, a company taking orders for new builds on Briarfield Court in Fifth Avenue Estates.
The price was good, the salesman was friendly and accommodating, and things just fell into place. Within a month of putting down a deposit for the lot, the Kaminskis sold their home in Ste. Agathe and squeezed into a 900-square-foot rental with their two children and two dogs to wait for the home to be ready. It was promised to be move-in ready by late October.
“We had seen other houses [on that street] already going up and they seemed to be going fairly quick,” says Kaminski. “We were sidetracked with selling and moving into a condo, so it wasn’t until about a month after moving that [we realized] still nothing had started [on our home].”
This is a similar story to many others who claim to have experienced the same thing. Thousands of dollars in deposits were collected, but they say the lots remained as empty and barren as the promises made by Fine Haus.
Realizing something was amiss, Kaminski began to reach out to representatives of Fine Haus, but his every attempt at conversation was met with excuses or complete silence.
Eventually he got through to Fine Haus’s top brass, Jason Cianflone.
“I couldn’t even go down to see [Cianflone] in an office somewhere, because he was in Texas,” Kaminski says. “He called me back from a freeway in Texas somewhere as he’s cruising down the highway… [You could tell] I wasn’t a top priority for him.”
He describes the next couple of months as a rollercoaster of emotion and stress, trying to get answers and feeling stuck in a building contract with no legal recourse.
Finally, two months after the Kaminskis should have taken possession of their new home, they were officially released from the contract.
By January, the couple began negotiating on the purchase of another home in Niverville, a home which they assumed ownership of this month. As for the Fine Haus fiasco, they’re just glad to put it all behind them. Kaminski says he’s not holding his breath that they’ll ever see their $15,000 deposit again.
