Too often people who are dealing with financial hardship believe that it is shameful to reach out for help. Help can come in the form of bankruptcy, Chapter 7 or 13, foreclosure prevention, short sale or loan modifications. For some, help might come in the form of a contest.
A Florida family who has been struggling financially took a chance and signed up for a contest. The mother entered in her family’s story to a competition in which the winners would be given the means to stay in their homes for at least one more year. Due to the win, the Florida family won’t have to face foreclosure, at least not in 2012.
A Minnesota nonprofit called the Gradient Gives Back Foundation heads the program. The Florida family is one of two winners of the chance to keep their homes for another year. It’s such a special holiday wish come true.
There are families in the world who are faced with immeasurable, emotional and expensive stresses that they simply could not have avoided. People looking for ways to avoid foreclosure are not lazy, non-workers who want to live off of others. They, like this Florida family, are those whose lives took tragic, costly turns.
This family had two boys, and they both wound up suffering from the same terminal disease. In 2007, the first son died of the mitochondrial disorder and the youngest still battles the illness. The insurance, treatments and care that are required for the boys put a lot of financial pressure on the parents.
When it comes to making a mortgage payment versus paying for keeping a child alive, it’s a decision that no parent ever wants to make. And in extreme cases wherein a medical emergency has put a family’s finances in such a stressed state, there are often legal routes to get help.
Previously, the family was able to restructure their debt repayment plan through filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. But they still need help today, with their 8-year-old boy continuing his battle against his illness. This contest win means the following: professionals will help them restructure their home mortgage and home-equity loans, the foundation will make the mortgage payments for a year and the family will also receive financial counseling.
Here’s to hope for a happy New Year for the deserving Florida family.
Source
Orlando Sentinel: “Struggling Deltona family wins year’s worth of mortgage payments,” Ludmilla Lelis, Dec. 17, 2011