Lost work, health do him in

A Wesley Chapel woman seeks help for her neighbor, who is left without electricity, water or much hope.

By LISA BUIE, Times Staff Writer
Published January 14, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT [Lance Aram Rothstein | Times] Ron Bergstrom and his 3-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Peppers, sit in the dark, sparse living room they share in the Meadow Pointe area of Wesley Chapel. Neighbor Jennifer Morehead is concerned about Bergstrom's plight and has put out a call on craigslist.org to get him some help.

WESLEY CHAPEL - The Web posting sounded desperate, and it was.

Titled "The Quiet Tragedy Next Door," it showed up Dec. 26 under the Rants and Raves section of Craigslist, just before "Sex Offenders Should be Locked Up."

"When I moved into this beautiful gated community over three months ago, it didn't take long for me to meet my next door neighbor, and learn that he is in dire straits," wrote Jennifer Morehead. "I won't sit by and let him die alone and hungry."

Morehead was referring to Ron Bergstrom, a tile setter whose health problems have left him unable to work.

Bergstrom, who will turn 58 Tuesday, is a proud man who reluctantly talks about the circumstances that could oust him from maintenance-free villa in Meadow Pointe. He dresses neatly in jeans, a sport shirt and windbreaker. He has tried to repay Morehead by giving her things, including two crystal vases he said had been in his family.

"I was the first resident in Longleaf," said Bergstrom, who paid $91,000 for his home in 1998. He describes what happened as "the perfect storm."

During the housing boom, Bergstrom worked six days a week. But in 2006, "the bottom dropped out." Bergstrom started relying on savings and pawning possessions to ride out the slowdown. He considered going to New Orleans or Biloxi, Miss., where post-hurricane rebuilding meant more work.

Then the chest pains began. Bergstrom had to have triple heart bypass surgery. A short time later, he had pneumonia. When he first met Morehead, he offered to sell her his houseplants. She quickly discovered he was living with no electricity and no water. She invited him over and gave him a cold drink.

He hasn't made a mortgage payment since April. He is not sure where in the foreclosure process his home is, but he has been getting "lawyer letters."

"I'm waiting for the wolf to show up at my door," he said. As to where he will go, Bergstrom has no idea. His only living relative is a brother, but the two no longer speak. He estimates his total debt at $600,000, "a tough nut to swallow."

A few days after Morehead met Bergstrom, she saw him shaking and sweating.

She insisted he sleep at her house in the air conditioning. He stayed about 18 hours on an air mattress on her living room floor. Every hour or so, Morehead checked on him and gave him Gatorade.

"I thought he was going to die," said Morehead, a 47-year-old training coordinator for Aflac insurance who shares her villa with her 23-year-old son.

But Bergstrom seemed to feel better and went home. A couple of days later, the sweating and shaking resumed. Morehead urged Bergstrom to go to a hospital and offered to call an ambulance. He declined, saying he didn't have insurance and couldn't afford the 911 fee.

Later that night, Morehead saw flashing lights. An ex-girlfriend of Bergstrom's called 911 after a phone conversation with him. Morehead later called 911 a couple of times herself when Bergstrom suffered from other health episodes.

"I can't tell you how many EMTs have been there," Morehead said.

Bergstrom has lost more than 60 pounds in the past three months. He uses water from Morehead's hose to take sponge baths and flush the toilet. Morehead also ran an extension cord from her house to Bergstrom's so he could have a light to read by.

She also offers him access to her home for food. One day, she came home to find him eating old spaghetti from the refrigerator.

"It was almost green," she said. Morehead stopped him so he wouldn't get sick.

"I'm starving," he said.

A few days later, Morehead sat down and posted her plea on Craigslist.

"It just kills me to think of all the aid that we provide to other countries who don't even like us, and to support so many able-bodied people in our own welfare system who have never contributed anything to it, yet there seems to be no assistance available to help this man to retain his dignity and assist him in getting back on his own two feet, where he so desperately needs and wants to be," she wrote.

Bergstrom has received some help. A sheriff's deputy brought him a food package at Christmas.

University Community Hospital has filed for Social Security disability on his behalf in order to collect it as payment, but he is still waiting for approval.

A Department of Children and Families case worker visited Bergstrom but only gave him a Web site address to apply for food stamps, he said.

"She told me I was in a unique situation, between a rock and a hard spot," he said.

DCF spokesman Andy Ritter said he could not comment on specific cases but said help is available for anyone who needs it.

He said the department has relationships with agencies that help with utilities and other living expenses. But "some people are so proud they may not want to accept our help."

Ritter urged anyone who knows of cases involving abused, neglected or needy children or adults to call the agency's toll free hotline at 1-800-962-2873.

Susan Arnett, director of the United Way of Pasco County, urged Bergstrom to call the agency's 211 line. Started in 2006, it's a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week hotline that connects callers to organizations that provide food, clothing, shelter, medicine, money and even advice. She said a lot of people might not realize that Pasco has such a hotline.

Morehead hopes some agencies can step up and share the responsibility. She recently was promoted and now must travel more often.

"My heart goes out to this guy," said Morehead. "He's worked all his life and he's hit a bump in the road. If you've got no family and got no recourse what do you do?"

Lisa Buie can be reached at buie@sptimes.com or 813 909-4604.

[Last modified January 13, 2008, 20:08:37]