HOUSE OF HOPE

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Published Saturday, April 23, 2005

HOUSE OF HOPE

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20050423/NEWS/504230345/1004

City Builds New House for Disabled Friends on Fixed Income

By ROBIN GALLAGHER BRANCH

The Ledger

LAKELAND

Within three years of buying an 1,850-square-foot house in the Lake

Bonnet Terrace neighborhood, the place was falling down around Marie

Strickland and Carol Ann Sasso.

Black mold and mildew made the West Chase home a health hazard. The

women used machines to help them breathe.

Last year, the city condemned the house and tore it down.

The transplants from South Carolina, both of whom are disabled and

live off Social Security, wondered what would happen to them.

These days, however, as the women sit on the front porch of their

new house, smoking cigarettes and waving to passers-by, the concerns

that once dominated their lives seem distant.

" This city takes care of its elderly and disabled, " said Sasso,

60. " They're angels. "

In January, the women moved into a new, 1,360-square-foot, concrete-

block home, built on the lot where their old house stood.

They've been unpacking and singing the city's praises ever since.

" This house means security and life, " said Sasso. " It's the ability

to breathe again. This house means hope. "

Sasso and Strickland, 63, who are not related but call themselves

sisters, said they love being in Central Florida -- despite their

housing problems.

" We adopted each other, " Sasso said, sharing a bit of their

lives. " Marie helped me take care of my mother in South Carolina for

eight years, and we've been together ever since. "

Both have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a lung and heart

condition, and are twice divorced.

Sasso has four daughters, one of whom lives in Lakeland. Strickland

raised 14 children -- nine adopted.

Before moving to Lakeland, Sasso worked as an accountant, and

Strickland owned a paint and body shop in Summerville, S.C.

In 2001, after Sasso sold her family's 30-acre timber farm in

Run, S.C., about 30 miles south of ton, the women retired to

Lakeland. They bought the 1,850-square- foot house on West Chase,

which runs parallel to Boulevard.

Sasso said she had always wanted to come to Central Florida.

Strickland warmed to the idea

after hearing that hurricanes never hit this far inland.

" Somebody lied, " Strickland said. " Or we made a wrong turn

somewhere. "

At first, things seemed fine.

" It was a beautiful house, " Sasso said. " It had new carpet, new

kitchen cabinets and new stucco walls. "

Though the house passed inspection before they bought it, cosmetic

changes made by the previous owner concealed many problems.

The women paid cash for the house and moved in, full of dreams and

plans.

Then things changed.

In 2002, roof damage sustained during a thunderstorm revealed a

serious termite problem, mold and fire damage. Wiring problems

surfaced shortly after. A water leak under the house led to an

$1,800 bill. Their insurance company dropped them.

Sasso turned off the water. She only turned it on to fill up the

buckets she fetched daily and carried up the hill to the house.

" We lived that way for six months, " she said.

Sasso began making calls, asking for help.

She found a sympathetic ear in Bridget Engleman, a city housing

official.

The city helped with some repairs.

" But the roofing, mold and sewage issues were too much, " said city

spokesman Cook. " The city decided it would be cheaper to build

a new house. "

The new house -- a three-bedroom, two-bath model, complete with blue

trim, fresh sod and a concrete driveway (replacing a dirt drive with

potholes) -- cost $73,410. Lakeland's Housing Division

Rehabilitation Program paid for the house with money from the

federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The West Chase house was among six new homes the housing program

built last year, Engelman said.

Sasso and Strickland qualified for assistance as low-income

homeowners. The women said they receive a total of about $13,000 a

year from Social Security.

The women chose the floor plan -- electing to go with a marble-

patterned commercial flooring over carpet -- and accessories for

their new home.

" Our house is so well-built that not a single block was moved during

the hurricanes, " Sasso said.

While waiting for the new house to be built, the women lived in a

mobile home park. The city paid them $400 a month to help with the

rent and even stored their furniture, Sasso said.

Now, the house is still full of boxes, waiting to be unpacked. The

windows have paper blinds from Wal-Mart -- " until we can afford

something better, " Sasso said.

The women said they were glad to return to their friendly,

ethnically diverse neighborhood.

They seem to know everybody.

" When you're sitting outside, you feel as if you are in the

country, " Sasso said. "

While the women were struggling to keep up their old house,

Gozzola and his employees sometimes dropped by to help out with

repairs.

" They're good neighbors, " said Gozzola, owner of Superior Screen

Printing, which shares a fence with the women's property. " They're

good security. If they see somebody suspicious, they call the

police. "

Gozzola and company fixed the women's air conditioning, fence and

filled in the potholes in the driveway. In return, the women cooked

dinner for the crew a couple of times.

" It brings me to tears when I think of how blessed we are to live in

this city, " Sasso said.