PLAINS TOWNSHIP -- Families who have loved ones entombed in a mausoleum that's falling apart in Luzerne County now know what it will take to repair the property.
A contractor met with them Wednesday afternoon to talk about the condition of the building at Good Shepherd Memorial Park in Plains Township.
That contractor gave some of the families whose relatives are resting there some hope that the chain could come off the mausoleum doors and people could soon visit their loved ones safely.
But it's hope that will come with a price, and one woman is on a mission to get it paid.
"Jesus, I trust you to help all of the families."
That's what a sign at this dilapidated mausoleum reads.
It's a prayer from Geri Vermack whose parents are entombed at Good Shepherd.
"I think we are going to get an answer, thank God for Nancy," Vermack said.
Vermack believes Nancy Albert, 63, who recently conquered cancer, is her answer for help.
Albert is on a mission to save this place. She met with a contractor to get an estimate on how much it would cost to fix the rundown, and structurally unsafe, mausoleum.
"We are going to remove the old roof. That is all concrete that is on there," explained contractor Greg Grant. "Remove these overhangs, remove the metal columns, everything that makes it unsafe."
Greg Grant Excavating and Trucking Company plans to do the work, but it will cost $52,000 to get it done.
Since the owners have refused to pay for any work, Albert plans to raise the money herself, even if she has to go door to door, asking businesses or anyone for help.
"I hope they have a heart to help me, let's put it that way. I mean, I don't think anybody else would want this to happen to their family either," Albert said.
The owners of Good Shepherd Mausoleum told Plains Township officials that they will allow work to be done up at the mausoleum, so long as the contractor signs a waiver relieving them of any liability.
To help with the work, Plains Township has offered to waive any fees for permits or inspections.
"I discussed with them and I discussed with Nancy. I mean, in the springtime, when things clear up here, I am going to come in here and cut all these trees and get all the grass and everything back up to par, the cemetery back up to par, free of charge," Grant said.
"It might be a long road to try to get all the funding, but I will try my best. It's not just for me, it's for everybody else in there," Albert added.
Once $12,000 is raised the contractor promises he'll start work. He says it would take only a month to get this place back in respectable shape.
That is something Albert and many families have been waiting to see for nearly two decades.