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Their grief is compounded

First, her son, 7, was hit by a car. Now, a nonprofit group’s promised aid hasn’t arrived.

By MARLON A. WALKER
Published July 28, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG — Chantelle Ross thought Gordon Curry and Source of Life Inc. were her saviors.

Ross faces eviction from her three-bedroom home, where she cares for her quadriplegic son, E’Traveon Johnson.

The 7-year-old was hit by a car and seriously injured on April 12, 2005, after he fled Fairmount Park Elementary.

Ross says Curry and his nonprofit group, Source of Life, offered to buy her family a home, but the group’s promises never materialized.

Even more distressing, she says, is that Curry’s St. Petersburg church took up at least one collection for her family. But she hasn’t seen a dime.

“They stepped in the way of somebody who might have really been trying to help us,” said Ross, 26. “I kind of feel let down.”

Neither Gordon Curry nor other Source of Life officials returned several calls seeking comment.

***

Ross first talked with Source of Life officials in May after a story on Bay News 9 told of her pending eviction. After 17 years of renting a house on Second Avenue S, Ross’ landlord sold the home, leaving Ross scrambling for a new home for her son, grandmother and an aunt.

Ross said that Curry, president of Source of Life, told her the group would help her family find a new home.
The news was heaven sent.

But a few weeks later, Ross said she began to suspect something might be amiss when Source of Life officials took days, sometimes weeks to return her calls.

“It’s like a duck-and-dodge type of thing,” she said. “They would give us something to pacify us for a while, then they do nothing.”

On more than two occasions, Ross was told a house had been found, but both deals fell through. Ross admits she didn’t like the first house because it was in a bad neighborhood and she didn’t feel safe.

But a real estate agent from New Millennial Homes showed Ross a second home in St. Petersburg that she loved.

The last time she saw the agent, he said he was headed to meet with Curry to work out a deal to buy the home.
Ross says she never heard back.

Darlene Hutton, sales manager for New Millennial Homes, said Curry canceled the contract on the home. She declined to say why.

Ross then found a home to rent. She says an in-law  was renting a home on Ninth Avenue N in St. Petersburg, and was willing to work with them on the money needed to move in. So she went to Curry’s church, Greater King David

International Church on Ninth Avenue S, seeking assistance with the first month’s rent and the security deposit. She said church officials told her to have the landlord contact Curry.

The landlord, Bridgette Ramjohn, confirmed that Ross gave her numbers for the church and Curry, and she called.

“The first number, the secretary said she would let them know I called,” said Ramjohn, 46, of Spring Hill. “The second number — I guess it was a cell phone for Gordon Curry — repeatedly went straight to voice mail.”

Neither church officials nor Curry called back, said Ramjohn, who waited several weeks before renting to another tenant.

“I was even willing to negotiate the security deposit because of the situation,” Ramjohn said. “But I had to rent my house out. I didn’t have a choice.”

Then, a few weeks ago, Ross said, a friend who attends Greater King David International Church called and told her money had been collected for her family. Ross didn’t know anything about it.

“I haven’t received any of that,” she said. “You’re taking up collections for us, and I’m still struggling to pay for (E’Traveon’s) diapers?”

Wallace Salley, 77, said he recalls giving $5 toward a collection for the family at the church a few weeks ago, when about 100 people attended. Curry made the plea, Salley said.

“He was taking up a collection for a family that was being put out of their home,” Salley said. “In a case like that, I don’t mind helping, you know?”

Other members of the congregation confirmed that such a collection took place, but declined to be identified.

A week and a half ago, Rosella Ross, E’Traveon’s great-grandmother, went to the church and asked officials what was happening.

They told her to be patient, they were still working on a house.

***

The Rosses were supposed to be out of their home by June 14, when new owners took over the property. When Source of Life didn’t come through, the new landlord extended the deadline until Monday.

After that, the rent will go from $350 to $825. With no other options, the family hopes to work out a deal with the new landlord and try to pay the higher rent, Ross said.

She quit her job as a certified nursing assistant and phlebotomist to give her son the round-the-clock care he needs. The family lives off E’Traveon’s disability checks and Rosella Ross’ Social Security check.

But the higher rent will make it hard to look for a new place, which can cost thousands of dollars to secure, Ross said.

Tuesday, she arrived home to find another eviction notice on the door.

“It’s like we were jerked around for the last two months … and nothing’s come from it,” said Ross, tears rolling down her face, collecting on her shirt. “I expected more.”

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Marlon A. Walker can be reached at (727) 893-8737 or mwalker@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 28, 2006, 22:06:58]