“I’m just overwhelmed by the response. The money’s important, but what means more to me than that is the people coming up to me, hugging me, saying ‘We’re praying for you’ or ‘We’re thinking about you,’” Parker said Monday.
Parker, his wife, Chavell, and their eight children stand to lose their home of nine years because they fell behind on mortgage payments after Chavell lost her income. Four of the eight children living in the home have physical or mental disabilities.
 The Parker family says grace before for lunch on Jan. 28. The Parkers' mortgage company has agreed to delay foreclosure by at least 30 days from the original Feb. 16 deadline. ((Joel Blocker / Daily Press) Advertisement |
Since that time, things are looking up.
The Parkers’ mortgage company has agreed to delay by at least 30 days the foreclosure that was set to take place Feb. 16. Chavell was offered a new job that will again pay her to provide home healthcare to their severely disabled son, Kyler. An attorney is helping the Parkers set up a nonprofit fund so that people who want to donate to their cause can be eligible for a tax deduction. He’s also providing pro bono services.
And on Friday and Saturday, a community yard sale to benefit the Parkers will take place at the Montrose Hampton Inn.
“We saw the need of the family,” Gwen Lee, who with her husband, Abe, came up with the idea of a yard-sale fundraiser. “We were motivated to simply help in whatever way we could. Bigger than that, though, we were motivated to try and mobilize the community at large.”
The sale will be from 2 to 6 p.m. Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. The Lees still need donations of non-clothing items (which can be dropped off after 10 a.m. Friday) and also volunteers to help run the sale.
“We’ve had a lot of genuine response,” Lee said.
“We know there’s lots of needs in the community. We’re motivated by our Christian faith to help when a need is presented, not to judge who is worthy or unworthy to receive help, but to help by giving whenever the need arises.”
The Parkers have taken heat from other segments of the community, though. Daily Press readers commenting online have accused them of spending irresponsibly.
Parker says the negative response hasn’t been confined to cyberspace. Someone knocked over his mail box, he said, and somebody also removed Realtors’ signs from other properties and placed them in Parker’s yard.
He said the real estate agents hadn’t known about the sign theft, and that they gave him helpful advice.
Parker refuted a variety of claims made on the Daily Press blog.
“I make no apologies for the decision I made to try to save my home,” he said. “I do, however, apologize to my children who have seen some of the responses. It has kind of hurt them. Life happens and it snowballs. I have no bitterness toward (bloggers). That’s why I love America, because we have the gift of free speech.”
Parker said that while he went on a cruise, the trip was paid for by people for whom he used to work.
“They provided that for us. My wife and I, we went to Las Vegas, stayed the night and woke up the next morning and went to California to get on the cruise,” he said.
“But that cruise was provided for. The only money we had to come up with was gas expenses to get up there.”
Parker said some of his children went to Japan, as part of the 4-H International Exchange Program and they paid for it by raising the money. The children’s laptops were furnished through their home-school program, which also provides for certain field trips and enrichment activities approved of and overseen by a resource counselor.
He previously told the Daily Press some of his older children earned spending money by working odd jobs — and used some of it to buy the other kids a gift.
When the Parker home was built, he and Chavell were providing foster care, the rules of which require a certain amount of living space per child. “I was working at the time we built the house,” he said.
Parker also clarified that he receives Social Security Disability Income, and Chavell’s income would not affect that. But the amount of Social Security Income some of his children receive would be adjusted according to household income.
“By no means were we trying to trick anybody,” he said.
Parker said he had no malice toward those who reacted negatively. “My heart goes out to them. I’m sorry they feel that way.”
He reiterated how grateful the family is for the help received.
“Here I am; this is what our situation is. There are folks out there that don’t appreciate that, but there are more that do. There are good people out there that want to know if you’re hurting or if you need help,” Parker said.
“I have nothing to hide. If they have something ugly to say, I would much rather they say it to me personally than have my children read it.
“They don’t have to have respect for me, but respect my children and watch what they say where all eyes can see.”
Parker said people can call him at 901-3265. For more information about the yard sale, call 240-0862.
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