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
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.
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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. <SNIP>
READ THE ARTICLE HERE AND SEE GREAT PHOTO OF RON AND PEPPERS and ADDRESS TO DONATE
