By JON BAKER

PAWTUCKET -- Lisa Johnson doesn't mind having to work a 13-hour shift as a dietary cook at Harris Health Center in Central Falls on Christmas Day.

Johnson, 42, knows when she arrives home tonight, at least she has a place to call such.

"Hey, I'm getting double-time pay, so that's big," Johnson said with a grin, while sitting at the kitchen table in her new abode at Lawn Terrace Apartments, located at 360 Mineral Spring Ave. Then, in a reflective tone, she said, "I know my family will be here waiting for me."

Johnson, who lives here with her daughter, Brendella, and 4-year-old grandson Ja-Khoury, is mighty thankful during this holiday season, and it stems from the Smithfield-based Ferland Corp.'s Foreclosure Displacement Assistance Program, one that provides immediate relief and financial assistance to individuals and families displaced from their homes due to mortgage foreclosures in Pawtucket and Woonsocket.

Community partners supporting the program include Rhode Island Housing, the Blackstone Valley Community Action Program and the United Way.

"This was Ferland Corporation's idea, and we started it back in August when the economy started to plummet," said Sean O'Leary, Ferland's vice president of development. "It was at that time we started to see many area residents displaced from their homes due to mortgage foreclosures, so we started talking about what we could do.

"At this point, we've helped seven residents with this program, helped get them back on their feet and ride out this current economic storm," he added. "It's very heartening from our standpoint, seeing what this program can do to aid others, especially during the holidays. It's a dire economic climate, but people are taking advantage of this program, and that excites us as a company."

***

How Johnson happened upon the program is both incredible and touching. It all started when her husband died on Jan. 7, 2004, at the age of 38.

"I just came home from work one day and found Bruce dead, and nobody could tell me anything as to how he died," she said sadly. "I think he had a heart attack, but I still don't know. Then again, he had just had a kidney removed, so maybe that had something to do with it."

At the time, the family lived together in a house at 459 Power Road, and times were OK beforehand. Amazingly, the day after her husband's death, a pipe broke in the same upstairs bedroom in which Bruce perished.

"There was $75,000 worth of damage; you know, it's funny, I only paid $140,000 for the home," she stated. "I had lost my husband, and then my home for a time. We had to go live with my mom for about seven months. I started thinking, ‘What's next? What is God going to give me to handle now?'"

The answer came soon after. Then working three jobs to make ends meet and pay for the family's food and bills, she lost one of them, that as a part-time supervisor at a Providence fast-food eatery.

"I became depressed, which didn't help my health," she noted. "I later began suffering from congestive heart failure. I think it was my fault, because I wasn't taking my medication for hypertension of the heart. I was out of work for six months, and I fell behind financially.

"There were times I couldn't pay the electric or gas bills," she added. "In the summer of 2005, I hired a legal services officer to try to help me save my house, and that lasted almost three years. I tried to make it work, but I just decided to give up. I couldn't take going to court all the time, so we went to Bankruptcy Court, and I told the judge, ‘You can have the house. This is killing me.'"

***

Before she and her family moved out, she started pondering how much she liked living at North Bend Apartments in Pawtucket, another Ferland Corp.-owned complex.

"I was thinking about having free heat and hot water, so I decided to come here to Lawn Terrace Apartments back in August and check it out," she stated. "I asked (site manager) Irene Villella if I could fill out an application, and she asked me about my situation, so I told her. Irene told me about a new program called Foreclosure Displacement Assistance, and she told me I qualified.

"I was totally shocked," she added. "I knew there was a three-year waiting list for subsidized housing. I asked her how the program worked, and she said that rent was based on income of the particular person. She also told me that there would be no security deposit, the first month's rent was waived and that I wouldn't have to pay an application fee. I totally lucked into this, and I'm thrilled."

Johnson, who claimed she needed only one day to move into her new three-bedroom apartment, now pays $840 a month (including heat and hot water). There's plenty of room for little Ja-Khoury to play, and "Mom" and adult daughter Brendella spend quality time together.

"We are seeing hundreds of area residents who need immediate relief from the complex and confusing dilemma in which they find themselves - no immediate shelter, limited financial resources, discouraging credit standing and few prior references," O'Leary stated. "Our Foreclosure Displacement Assistance Program is Ferland's effort to offer these people some financial breathing room as they attempt to ride out this storm."

Beamed Johnson, who has two adult sons living nearby in the city with their families: "Right now, I'm doing wonderfully. I've been able to shop for gifts for my children and four grandchildren, and now I know they will have a ‘Merry Christmas.'

"The stress in my life is gone," she added. "I don't have to worry about the phone ringing, people asking me why I haven't paid this or that bill. I can shop now, which obviously I love doing, and I couldn't do that the last few years ... I may have to work on Christmas, but we have a new place to live. Now that's a terrific gift."

For more information on this program, area residents should call the "Displacement Hotline" at (401) 233-8900 (ext. 0).

on 12-25-2008 01:07

Program brightens Christmas for family displaced by foreclosure

By JON BAKER

PAWTUCKET -- Lisa Johnson doesn't mind having to work a 13-hour shift as a dietary cook at Harris Health Center in Central Falls on Christmas Day.

Johnson, 42, knows when she arrives home tonight, at least she has a place to call such.

"Hey, I'm getting double-time pay, so that's big," Johnson said with a grin, while sitting at the kitchen table in her new abode at Lawn Terrace Apartments, located at 360 Mineral Spring Ave. Then, in a reflective tone, she said, "I know my family will be here waiting for me."

Johnson, who lives here with her daughter, Brendella, and 4-year-old grandson Ja-Khoury, is mighty thankful during this holiday season, and it stems from the Smithfield-based Ferland Corp.'s Foreclosure Displacement Assistance Program, one that provides immediate relief and financial assistance to individuals and families displaced from their homes due to mortgage foreclosures in Pawtucket and Woonsocket.

Community partners supporting the program include Rhode Island Housing, the Blackstone Valley Community Action Program and the United Way.

"This was Ferland Corporation's idea, and we started it back in August when the economy started to plummet," said Sean O'Leary, Ferland's vice president of development. "It was at that time we started to see many area residents displaced from their homes due to mortgage foreclosures, so we started talking about what we could do.

"At this point, we've helped seven residents with this program, helped get them back on their feet and ride out this current economic storm," he added. "It's very heartening from our standpoint, seeing what this program can do to aid others, especially during the holidays. It's a dire economic climate, but people are taking advantage of this program, and that excites us as a company."

***

How Johnson happened upon the program is both incredible and touching. It all started when her husband died on Jan. 7, 2004, at the age of 38.

"I just came home from work one day and found Bruce dead, and nobody could tell me anything as to how he died," she said sadly. "I think he had a heart attack, but I still don't know. Then again, he had just had a kidney removed, so maybe that had something to do with it."

At the time, the family lived together in a house at 459 Power Road, and times were OK beforehand. Amazingly, the day after her husband's death, a pipe broke in the same upstairs bedroom in which Bruce perished.

"There was $75,000 worth of damage; you know, it's funny, I only paid $140,000 for the home," she stated. "I had lost my husband, and then my home for a time. We had to go live with my mom for about seven months. I started thinking, ‘What's next? What is God going to give me to handle now?'"

The answer came soon after. Then working three jobs to make ends meet and pay for the family's food and bills, she lost one of them, that as a part-time supervisor at a Providence fast-food eatery.

"I became depressed, which didn't help my health," she noted. "I later began suffering from congestive heart failure. I think it was my fault, because I wasn't taking my medication for hypertension of the heart. I was out of work for six months, and I fell behind financially.

"There were times I couldn't pay the electric or gas bills," she added. "In the summer of 2005, I hired a legal services officer to try to help me save my house, and that lasted almost three years. I tried to make it work, but I just decided to give up. I couldn't take going to court all the time, so we went to Bankruptcy Court, and I told the judge, ‘You can have the house. This is killing me.'"

***

Before she and her family moved out, she started pondering how much she liked living at North Bend Apartments in Pawtucket, another Ferland Corp.-owned complex.

"I was thinking about having free heat and hot water, so I decided to come here to Lawn Terrace Apartments back in August and check it out," she stated. "I asked (site manager) Irene Villella if I could fill out an application, and she asked me about my situation, so I told her. Irene told me about a new program called Foreclosure Displacement Assistance, and she told me I qualified.

"I was totally shocked," she added. "I knew there was a three-year waiting list for subsidized housing. I asked her how the program worked, and she said that rent was based on income of the particular person. She also told me that there would be no security deposit, the first month's rent was waived and that I wouldn't have to pay an application fee. I totally lucked into this, and I'm thrilled."

Johnson, who claimed she needed only one day to move into her new three-bedroom apartment, now pays $840 a month (including heat and hot water). There's plenty of room for little Ja-Khoury to play, and "Mom" and adult daughter Brendella spend quality time together.

"We are seeing hundreds of area residents who need immediate relief from the complex and confusing dilemma in which they find themselves - no immediate shelter, limited financial resources, discouraging credit standing and few prior references," O'Leary stated. "Our Foreclosure Displacement Assistance Program is Ferland's effort to offer these people some financial breathing room as they attempt to ride out this storm."

Beamed Johnson, who has two adult sons living nearby in the city with their families: "Right now, I'm doing wonderfully. I've been able to shop for gifts for my children and four grandchildren, and now I know they will have a ‘Merry Christmas.'

"The stress in my life is gone," she added. "I don't have to worry about the phone ringing, people asking me why I haven't paid this or that bill. I can shop now, which obviously I love doing, and I couldn't do that the last few years ... I may have to work on Christmas, but we have a new place to live. Now that's a terrific gift."

For more information on this program, area residents should call the "Displacement Hotline" at (401) 233-8900 (ext. 0).