BUFFALO, N.Y. — Pastor Betty White's granddaughters have been going to Walking in God Ministry Church before they even knew how to walk, but they might have to soon say goodbye to these walls.
"They help everybody and nobody can help us and that's what's saddening to me," Breyonna Carr said.
As the roof caves in, so do the odds of keeping the East Buffalo church.
"The church is terrible now. I mean, the back is terrible. We used to be able to go to the back and have dinners and sit down and eat. We can't go back there no more," Pastor White said.
Pastor White says that the race to keep her church from being demolished by the city is running out of time after a deal between the church and a local contractor fell through.
"He tore out everything. He stripped it down to nothing and just left it like it is, and the opening now, everything is caving in because he didn't finish the work," Pastor White said.
The pastor claims they paid a total of $44,000, as seen on bank receipts and a contract shown to 2 On Your Side. But contractors, they say, never finished the job.
2 On Your Side has reached out to the contractor, a business by the name of For Oppressed People LLC, a business we found not to be accredited by the Better Business Bureau. They have refused comment.
And now, with a roof on the brink of caving in, the city has deemed the church unsafe.
"If you look at the rear portion of the roof, anyone driving by can see that there is a serious issue there," said Catherine Amdur P.E., commissioner of permit and inspection services for the City of Buffalo.
After a series of extensions and help from city officials, a final deadline is still looming. The church has until Oct. 4 to secure funds and a plan for a new contractor.
"We also have to make sure it's safe for the community so once that deadline comes around if they haven't made progress with the plans. Having the contractor in place, we're gonna have to take care of the situation," Amdur said.
The link to donate to the church's GoFundMe can be found here.