Vardon Family’s Extreme Makeover House at Risk of Foreclosure

31 Comments so far

1. Lee from Boston, MA on December 9, 2008 9:51 am

   This blog has a minor error. LANCE Vardon is the son of Judy and LARRY Vardon’s. Larry, the father, is the one who works at Chrysler’s Sterling Heights stamping plant. Lance, the son, is the one who is blind and autistic.

2. Diane Tuman on December 9, 2008 10:05 am

   Lee: You’re right. I corrected this mistake.

3. Dave on December 9, 2008 10:11 am

   The reason for the mortgage is, the medical costs forced them to refinance the house.

4. Dave on December 9, 2008 10:14 am

   I just sent an email to ABCs Bill Spencer, “Call Bill for Action” I will post it here.

   Hi Bill, I hope you can help! I am not asking you to help me, I’m asking you to help the Varden family in Oak Park. The name probably sounds familiar to you because, they were chosen by ABCs Extreme Home Makeover team. I am a laid off coworker of Larry Varden, and he doesn’t know me personally by name, but would probably recognize me if he saw me in person. I had a hard time falling asleep last night after hearing about there home going into foreclosure! I can’t afford to help financially, so, I hope you can help in some way. Lance, the youngest son, is autistic and blind. The house as you probably know, was designed to help the family cope with Lance’s disabilities along with both parents disabilities of being deaf! I just saw Ty Pennington say this is one of his favorite makeovers, maybe you will know how to contact him, I’m sure he would want to help!!

   Thank you for ANY help you can give them!!

5. Lee from Boston, MA on December 9, 2008 10:34 am

   Diane: You’re welcome.
   Dave: I’m so sorry to hear that you got laid off from the same company where Larry works. Hang in there and be strong. You, Larry and all those who may be facing this difficult time have my full support. God bless.

6. DebtFree on December 9, 2008 12:01 pm

   Sell the house, and use the proceeds to care for your son and pay the rent.

   Not everyone can afford to live in a house, there’s no shame in renting.

7. Dave on December 9, 2008 12:46 pm

   I understand what you are saying, and I would agree if it were you or I.

   THIS house was designed and built to help cope with the difficulties of raising an autistic and blind child along with both parents being deaf. Just one of the difficulties they had with Lance(the child), was Lance leaving the house in the middle of the night, so safeguards were built into that house.

   Larry is one of the hardest workers they have at work. When he worked on my line, (when I was working) I never had to worry about him being late, never had to remind him how to do his job, and never had to worry about the numbers, because if we didnt get them, there was something wrong with my line because I know we can count on Larry giving 110%, at all times!

   Larry is not having money problems because he’s not going to work, or doing drugs, or buying new cars or….. He is having money problems, because of the cost of care for his child, and on top of that, the automotive industry downturn, has taken all the chances of working overtime to help him pay the always rising costs!!

8. sharkee on December 9, 2008 2:23 pm

   ABC needs to put a lien or trust deed restriction on these “Extreme Makeover” homes that would prevent the homeowners from taking out home equity loans. Habitat for Humanity found out decades ago that this was the only solution to keep these equity rich people in their homes and not in foreclosure.

9. DebtFree on December 10, 2008 11:43 am

   Sharkee, sounds good to me.

   These folks were given the gift of a free home. Taking out a Home Equity Loan would obviously put them in an unsustainable position. And it has.

   Sell the house and use the proceeds to care for your son and get on with your life. This is a good opportunity for them to get far away from Michigan, and the failed city of Detroit:

   ForgottenDetroit dot com

10. Lee from Boston, MA on December 10, 2008 12:55 pm

    DebtFree: It’s very easy for you to say it than in action. Can you imagine what it’s like to have a child who is autisic/blind and that requires 24/7 supervision? I suppose you don’t.

    I work at a group home where all of my mentally challenged individuals that need supervision 24 hours, 7 days a week. If they were my own children, I would never, ever give up the house that is designed for their safety and well-being. Renting an apartment or even buying a condo and getting on with your life with a severely disabled child is not how you should handle the situation. Dave had made a lot of valid point about Lance’s safety and living evironment in his previous comment.

    You need to open your eyes and put yourself in Larry’s shoe.

11. judy on December 10, 2008 1:54 pm

    Dave can you contact me jvdpohvi4@aol.com it important someone want interview you

12. Dave on December 10, 2008 2:08 pm

    jvd, I sent you an email.

    Lee from bostin, Thank you!!!! I was about to give up on this subject with this board!! I was just trying to get help for Larry and his family. I also have a child who suffers from a form of autisim. My child is not as severe as lance by far, but I understand what is going on. When I did a search on google, I saw this board and someone was asking a question, so I answered that question and all H**l has broken loose. That was not my intention. You have put some faith back in me with your coments. Thank you so much for your support. God bless you and everyone!! We all need his blessings!! Even those of you that had negative comments. Not all the comments are ment to be negative, especially when you are ignorant on the subject!!

13. DebtsNMesses on December 10, 2008 2:45 pm

    I think they need to get roommates. As things squeeze tighter, we’ll all need to double up. The deaf community is a tight knit one, and will help each other if they ask. Pride has no place in a depression.

14. DebtFree on December 10, 2008 3:29 pm

    Lee, if the home was important to them, and worth keeping as you state, then putting it at risk with a Home Equity Loan wasn’t the best move.

    They should have rented out the garage, taken in a tenant, etc. Things to increase income, rather than increase debt they could not sustain.

    Either they can afford to keep the house, or not. If not, then time to sell and move on. More handouts will only delay the inevitable.

    Guaranteed there are countless disabled children out there who will never enjoy the luxury of a free million dollar house.

    I just don’t buy all the lame excuses put forward here and elsewhere.

    There will be many more foreclosures in Michigan in the coming years. It’s a dying state.

15. Dave on December 11, 2008 6:41 am

    OK, OK,

    DebtFree, Read the article in the Detroit News today, I will attach a link for you!! Then I want you to apologize to first of all The Vardon Family, and then to the rest of the people on here you offended!!!!! Half the problem here is you are speaking about a subject you know NOTHING about, and I don’t care how debt free you are!!!!!

    http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081211/METRO/812110392/1409/METRO

    Lee, again thank you for your support!!! God bless you and your family!!!

16. Dave on December 11, 2008 4:32 pm

    Here is the latest:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQnUZlqpqkE

17. Dave on December 11, 2008 4:44 pm

    I just saw this one too. I am still wiping my tears!!! And DebtFree, if you were the Vardon family, I would be crying for you too!!!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBKfrgadri4

18. Cody on December 15, 2008 2:20 pm

    Does anybody know if they have a donation fund that could help the Vardon family with their housing and medical needs. I personally would like to contribute but have no ideal were to start. This family has touched my heart in so many ways. God Bless!

19. Diane Tuman on December 15, 2008 2:47 pm

    Cody: According to this article (http://www.freep.com/article/20081211/NEWS03/812110361/1005/NEWS) in the Detroit Free Press, you can contribute to:

    Friends of the Vardon Family Fund, P.O. Box 721084, Berkley 48071-0084.

20. Dave on December 15, 2008 3:45 pm

    Cody, God Bless you and your family!!! You have a kind heart like many of us.

    Have a Happy Holiday, and a wonderful new year!!

    Dave

21. Dave on December 15, 2008 4:20 pm

    I just saw this on Yahoo and thought I would post it.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081215/ap_en_tv/extreme_makeover_foreclosure_2

22. Lisa on December 15, 2008 6:23 pm

    I teach deaf students, autistic students and other children with special needs and have been doing so for the past 25 years. I also teach hearing students American Sign Language. We have followed the Vardon family over the years and are heart-broken to hear of their plight. Being familiar with all of the disabilities that are involved in this family I can not begin to tell you how amazing this family truly is (despite the obstacles they deal with on a daily basis)!

    Debt-free has no clue! — one minute he says “sell the house and move on” — “use the money to take care of your autistic son”. The reason they got into this financial mess in the first place was because they needed money to “take care of their autistic son”. Walk a day in their shoes and then tell me you would walk away from a home created especially to meet the needs of the deaf, blind, autistic and hearing members of your family.

23. Cody on December 15, 2008 6:37 pm

    Thank you Dave! God Bless you and your family!

24. Brenda on December 15, 2008 8:45 pm

    Isn’t this country a wonderful place to live and this a wonderful time to live in? Granted, there are disagreements and some will never see the other side of the issue, but we agree to disagree. It’s good to see there is still brotherly love in this tired old world.

    Happiest of holidays and a love-filled new year.

25. kiara on December 16, 2008 7:14 am

    i think that sad forreal i cant believe what happen when my teacher told me about that i was really shocked bout that but i hope god bless your family
    but i agree with lisa cook that my teacher lol n yes im deaf n im proud

26. Debt Help Blog on December 20, 2008 8:49 pm

    The reason for the mortgage is, the medical costs forced them to refinance the house.

27. Lynn Trobaugh on January 2, 2009 8:09 pm

    My heart breaks for this famuly. Its not like they mortaged their home to go on a fancy vacation or to play the lottery. They tried to do everything possible to help their child, and I’m sure any parent out there would do the same thing. It’s the insurance companies and the mortage companies that should be held accountable. How can you NOT cover medical costs for a disbaled child?? And don’t even get me started on the Mortage companies. I pray that the Vardens can keep their home. I’m sure Lance is comfortable there and needs that special enviroment to thrive. God Bless you Vardne’s and I’ll keep you in my prayers.

28. Jane on January 4, 2009 5:40 am

    Hi everyone
    I live in the UK and by sheer chance I just saw the Extreme Makeover program on UKTV featuring the Vardons - my husband and I were in tears nearly all the way through! What a magnificent home was created for them and how much they all deserved it. Their son Simon is such a beautiful human being - I hope he is still going to be able to go to College with the funds donated for that purpose. I just Googled the name and came across this blog - so horrifying to discover what has recently happened in their lives and to see they have become victims of the dreadful financial crisis - something they couldn’t avoid and certainly not their fault.
    Surely it must be possible for some local organisation to set up a professionally-run secured fund for the Vardons to cover the medical and extra social expenses for their blind son Lance? I know for sure that I would contribute on a monthly basis and I cannot believe I’m the only one!
    Maybe there is a caring person who could afford to pay off what the Vardons currently owe so that they can start over with a clean slate? I just cannot imagine the pain they are suffering after the joy of the makeover - the worst imaginable nightmare. Let’s try to make 2009 a Happy New Year for them. Good wishes to all from friends in England.

29. Jane on January 4, 2009 5:48 am

    Hi again - I just want to apologise to Stephan for calling him Simon!
    Best wishes to all.

30. Justin on May 6, 2009 3:33 pm

    Its very sad every time I hear about a family forced into a situation where they have to refi to pay medical debt, and are now facing foreclosure.

31. Lalitha Durlin on July 22, 2009 4:26 pm

    Hello,
    I watched the episode where the Vardon family was featured. Lance is such an intelligent boy and Stephan cares for his family like a person beyond his years. This family continues to inspire me and many others. God bless and keep this family from losing so much.