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Letter to the editor

Things looking up for man and dog

A man hit by work and health woes still likely will lose his home, but his future looks better.

By LISA BUIE, Times Staff Writer
Published January 29, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT [Lance Aram Rothstein | Times] Life is getting better for Ronald Bergstrom and his Jack Russell terrier, Peppers. Many people have offered to help since heart trouble and the poor housing market left him in dire straits.

WESLEY CHAPEL - Ron Bergstrom will likely lose his waterfront villa, but at least he won't starve. Neither will Peppers, his Jack Russell terrier.

Two days after a story appeared in the St. Petersburg Times detailing the 58-year-old heart disease victim's descent from self-sufficiency into poverty, help was on the way.

"I just got food stamps today," Bergstrom said Tuesday after driving up to his house in his Ford Taurus. He said after the story ran, a supervisor from the Florida Department of Children and Families visited him and helped him apply. Earlier, he said, a DCF worker had simply referred him to a Web site. Bergstrom also received donations of canned food from neighbors in the Longleaf village of Meadow Pointe II, where he was the first resident. A man who worked at a pet store sent him 40 pounds of dog food. Someone else wanted to make sure Peppers was up to date on her vaccines.

"It's nice to know there are nice people out there," he said.

Bergstrom moved to Longleaf in 1998. He paid $91,000 for a beige stucco villa in a community with a homeowners' association and crews who handle the yard work. He had previously owned a company that provided support services to the Professional Golf Association. He was making his living as a self-employed tile setter during the height of the housing boom, often working six days a week.

But in 2006, the housing market dried up, leaving Bergstrom to rely on savings and whatever possessions he could sell or pawn. As he considered moving to New Orleans or the Mississippi Gulf Coast to cash in on post-hurricane rebuilding, he got hit with chest pains. Those pains ultimately required triple heart bypass surgery. After a three-week hospital stay, he came down with pneumonia.

Bergstrom, who is divorced with no children, has no family to rely on. His next-door neighbor, Jennifer Morehead, who had recently moved in, found him in dire straits after he offered to sell her his houseplants.

Until now, Morehead was Bergstrom's sole source of support. The utility companies had cut off the electricity and water, so the 47-year-old Aflac employee ran an extension cord from her house to his so he could have a reading lamp. She also let him use her spigot to get water for bathing, drinking and flushing. She nursed him through several illnesses and shared her own food.

"I'm glad she was there," said Bergstrom, as he sat in his mostly empty villa. "I can't begin to put into words what it means to me."

Through another neighbor, Bergstrom also has connected with LifePoint Church in New Tampa. He has requested help with medicine and shelter when he eventually loses his home to foreclosure.

A man came to his door Tuesday with a certified letter, but Bergstrom didn't answer. He says he will pick it up later at the post office.

The help comes as a relief to Morehead, who was putting in more hours at work after being promoted to training coordinator. She worried that the extra travel required by her job wouldn't allow her to be as much help to Bergstrom.

Bergstrom spent Christmas with Morehead and her 28-year-old son, Travis. The next night, she poured out her angst about Bergstrom's situation on Craigslist. She described it as "The Quiet Tragedy Next Door."

"He's in so deep," she said Tuesday. "We're all just trying to help him day to day."

Bergstrom has posted his own message for those who have offered help.

Taped to his storm door is a note handwritten in black marker.

"To Anyone that has donated. It is greatly appreciated. Thank you. Ron and Peppers."

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

Fast facts:

To help

Write to Ron Bergstrom at 1837 Echo Pond Place, Wesley Chapel, FL 33543.

[Last modified January 28, 2008, 23:26:48]