Disabled Montpelier man displaced after flooding, housed by support staff for nearly 2 weeks

By Amanda Martin-Ryan

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    MONTPELIER, Vermont (WPTZ) — More stories have emerged about people impacted by the flooding. One of them is a Montpelier man with Down Syndrome.

Jeremy Carpenter lives in a third-floor apartment sitting right next to the North Branch of the Winooski River.

The 52-year-old’s direct support professionals from Upper Valley Services were able to get him out of his apartment the morning the flooding started, which saved him from having to be rescued by water rescue teams like many of his neighbors.

One of them, Catherine Royea, welcomed him into her home for the night, but that turned into 12 days.

“I knew he needed help, and it wasn’t going to be safe for him to stay here,” she said. “So that was the natural thing to do, to stay with us.”

Over the 12 days, Royea made sure Carpenter stayed busy doing his favorite things — bowling, eating tons of pasta, and watching lots of WWE. She even brought him on a family vacation to Lake George.

When it was time for Carpenter to go home, he returned to a house with no running water or electricity, forcing him to throw away everything in his fridge.

Making things even harder, his workplace was also hard hit. He said he hasn’t been able to go back to work since the flooding happened and won’t be able to return in the foreseeable future.

Caitlyn James, another one of Carpenter’s support professionals, shared how they’re adjusting Carpenter’s day-to-day: “We kind of just had to throw together a schedule that works for him.”

James added, “We’ll just watch the employment factor of it because we just don’t know. It’s an open-ended question.”

The cemetery next to Carpenter’s apartment, one of his favorite spots to hang out every night, also flooded. Luckily, Carpenter came back to find his chair in the cemetery had only moved yards away.

Carpenter loves being back at home and the cemetery, but he cares just as much about making sure his community is also okay.

“When he goes downtown and sees all his friends, he’s going to keep asking how they’re doing, making sure they’re okay. That’s just who he is,” James shared.

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