Country Walk Neighbors Rally To Save Neighbors Home

In a single weekend, Diane Waldron's neighbors in the Country Walk subdivision of Round Lake Beach, upon learning she may lose her home of 13 years have come together to raise over $1,000 to help save her home.

The problem, Diane was unknowingly receiving a senior tax exemption on her property taxes for two years after her husband passed away. Once the problem was identified, Diane was forced to increase her tax escrow payment by $157 per month to make up for the shortfall in the escrow. This extra payment is beyond her ability to pay.

"I didn't understand what happened. I reported his death to the county, and my taxes had raised, I had no idea they were still billing me at the senior rate," said Diane Waldron of Country Walk in Round Lake Beach.

"Before I knew it, my mortgage company increased my payment by $157 a month to cover a $5,100 shortfall in the escrow. I don't know how I am going to pay that."

This started back in 2006, "I had it made," started Diane. "I had $190k in my retirement account and a family in good health or so I thought. The day after Thanksgiving, my world changed. My husband, Doug Waldron, of 43 years, was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer, and given a prognosis of 2 to 4 weeks to live."

"We quickly got him into a special study at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The doctors said they had a procedure they could try, however Medicare and private insurance would not cover some of the things that would be needed."

In an effort to save Doug's life, Diane began withdrawing money from her retirement account, eventually completely draining it. This continued for several more years, until the day after Christmas in 2010, when Doug finally succumbed to his illness and passed away.

The treatments Doug endured were experimental, and extended his life from 4 weeks to 4 years. Many of those same treatments, due in part to Doug's willingness to participate, are now covered by Medicare. However, this news came too late for Diane, who lives on a small monthly fixed income.

"At the time of my husband's death, my retirement account was gone. Now I am a senior citizen and on General Assistance and about to lose my home because I cannot keep up with my escrow account that raises my house payment out of my monthly income."

Help came from a very unlikely source. Shortly after the new year, Diane received a letter on her door from a local REALTOR® named Dick Barr who had invited the neighborhood to join a Facebook group he had started to promote local projects and community service.

Diane had joined the group, simply to meet neighbors and participate however she could. When Dick noticed she joined he read a little information about her on her Facebook page and saw Diane's story. This prompted him to reach out to the group, which is currently comprised of 267 neighborhood members, and request they come together to do what they can to save Diane's home.

"I saw her story and did some basic research," said Dick. "I confirmed through the tax assessor's website that Diane had in fact been receiving the Senior tax exemption for 2 years after her husband passed away. I also found an article in Chicago Magazine as well as a video that talked about the experimental treatments her husband received. It all checked out as far as I was concerned."

What happened next was magical. In one weekend, the neighborhood raised over $1,000 from 28 donors using a GoFundMe account she had set up in 2014, which at the time Dick noticed it, had not raised any money.

"I had no idea complete strangers would ever think to help me," said Diane. "I've been crying all weekend and don't know how to begin to thank my neighbors."

Diane still has a long way to go to reach her $5,100 goal, but Dick hopes that more people will read Diane's story and feel moved to help her in her situation.

"The whole idea of the group we created on Facebook was built around the premise of paying it forward," said Dick. "Diane's situation was the perfect way we thought we could jump start the feeling of community in our neighborhood."

If you would like to help, you can visit Diane's GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/iy3dgk