Plenty of reason to be merry this Christmas for Schaumburg woman

Paula Pedersen has been having a very merry Christmastime this year.

The 60-year-old Schaumburg resident is among the least likely to lose touch with what's truly important over the holiday season, or to lack appreciation for the basic comforts of home as winter begins to settle in.

After all, it was just months ago that Pedersen and other low-income residents of the Tree House Luxury Apartments nearly found out what life would be like without those comforts.

In May, Pedersen was informed that the Housing Authority of Cook County vouchers that allowed her and her son to live in the Tree House would likely not keep up with higher rents that would accompany a $20 million upgrade of the apartment complex on Algonquin Road.

“Realistically, I thought I'd be living in my car and going to (homeless) shelters,” said Pedersen, whose medical problems, including a seizure disorder, diabetes and arthritis, have made regular employment difficult in recent years.

After more than a month of head-spinning worry over her and her 22-year-old son's future, Tree House management worked out a deal with the housing authority that allows them and other low-income residents to remain in their homes.

That wasn't the end of their worries, however. To accommodate the renovations, residents such as Pedersen would be required to move to another part of the complex, a daunting prospect both physically and financially.

Along came 17-year-old Cody Baker and his football teammates from Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst, who helped move every transplanted resident of the Tree House who couldn't afford to hire anyone.

“That's when you say, ‘See, there really are good people out there who care,'” Pedersen said. “For young people like that to pick up the ball, they really needed to be recognized for that.”

Pedersen also heaps praise on Tree House management, who not only went to bat for their residents but greeted their moves to new units with “Welcome Home” packages just like full-paying renters receive.

“You always feel like a second-class citizen living in subsidized housing,” Pedersen said. “Feeling you're part of this community and not just second-class citizens means a lot to your emotional well-being.”

Pedersen's main goal now is getting employed again, hopefully through the help of the Harper College computer classes she just passed.

But neither a job nor her recent classes would have been possible without a stable home situation.

“It's nice to live in a clean, new apartment,” Pedersen said. “Having a roof over our heads and being in this great location where we can go to Harper — that didn't change.

“Honestly, I don't know where we would have gone. Our family is us.”