Doug & Carol Dworshak
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Please help me, help my friends Doug & Carol Dworshak...
Doug, 61, was diagnosed with heart disease last year and forced to quit his longtime job as a meat cutter at Butcher Block. A few months later, Carol, 60, suffered a back injury in a car accident and was no longer able to work at Panera Bread. The medical debt from ambulance calls, emergency room visits and hospital stays added up to a seemingly insurmountable $300,000. There was no more money to pay bills, buy household necessities and keep up the mortgage.
In the past year, the weight of their financial crisis and his serious chronic medical condition landed Doug at the hospital multiple times. The debt and the lack of identity of a job have led the prideful man down a road of depression and hopelessness to thoughts of suicide.
After impatiently waiting about six months for the paperwork to process, Doug is receiving $1,260 monthly in Social Security Disability payments. With Carol still looking for a new part-time job, the couple is living nearly $800 below the poverty rate for a family of two. They get $300 monthly through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for groceries and make visits to local food pantries.
July 15, and the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, which aims to make housing affordable for state residents, is set to foreclose on the Dworshaks' home of seven years.
Carol frantically makes last-minute calls to the state agency and to the state office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Fargo, surrounded at her kitchen table by letters, other paperwork, and loose papers with scribbles and calculations.
A short time passes and the cellphone rings. It’s a representative from HUD. Carol retreats to the back of the house to take the call. A short time later, she walks out. “Well, we’re screwed," she says. "I did what I could. It’s over.” As the shock wears off, Carol’s eyes begin to well up with tears as she sits beside Doug on the couch. “I never thought life would turn out like this,” Doug says. “That’s what I get for being sick.”
Aug. 19, just days after Doug has had another nearly weeklong stay at a local hospital. Earlier in the day, the couple attended a court hearing finalizing the foreclosure of their home. Now, four Mandan police officers are at the front door, and the Dworshaks must vacate their home immediately.
They thought they had one more day. Confused and overwrought, they're forced to leave behind several large appliances, furniture, dry goods and a freezer full of food. They spend the night in their RV, parked in the street.
“I feel overwhelmed; sometimes I feel hollow,” Carol says five weeks later. “Where are we going to go? I don’t know.”
The Dworshaks are now homeless and living in their cold, overstuffed RV with a leaky roof, parked on Carol’s sister’s property near Lincoln.
“It was OK for about a week,” Doug says. “Now we are moody and arguing all the time. Everything is so cramped.”
Carol wishes she had more privacy and room to move without bumping into Doug. “I try to look at the bright side, and I can’t find one,” she says, tears welling in her eyes. “We try to keep on going and we just can’t.”
As the days and weeks go on, the Dworshaks are hoping to find someplace to rent with the help of programs through Community Options and Burleigh County Housing Authority. The couple visits food pantries like Ministry on the Margins for help, as well.
As a last resort, The Dworshaks' daughter and son-in-law have property near rural Litchville, southwest of Valley City. The house, although in disrepair, is better than their current living conditions -- but it's far from job opportunities and medical care.
As he ponders what their future might be, Doug can't help but also look to the past. “Life was good before I got sick," he says.
Doug, 61, was diagnosed with heart disease last year and forced to quit his longtime job as a meat cutter at Butcher Block. A few months later, Carol, 60, suffered a back injury in a car accident and was no longer able to work at Panera Bread. The medical debt from ambulance calls, emergency room visits and hospital stays added up to a seemingly insurmountable $300,000. There was no more money to pay bills, buy household necessities and keep up the mortgage.
In the past year, the weight of their financial crisis and his serious chronic medical condition landed Doug at the hospital multiple times. The debt and the lack of identity of a job have led the prideful man down a road of depression and hopelessness to thoughts of suicide.
After impatiently waiting about six months for the paperwork to process, Doug is receiving $1,260 monthly in Social Security Disability payments. With Carol still looking for a new part-time job, the couple is living nearly $800 below the poverty rate for a family of two. They get $300 monthly through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for groceries and make visits to local food pantries.
July 15, and the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, which aims to make housing affordable for state residents, is set to foreclose on the Dworshaks' home of seven years.
Carol frantically makes last-minute calls to the state agency and to the state office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Fargo, surrounded at her kitchen table by letters, other paperwork, and loose papers with scribbles and calculations.
A short time passes and the cellphone rings. It’s a representative from HUD. Carol retreats to the back of the house to take the call. A short time later, she walks out. “Well, we’re screwed," she says. "I did what I could. It’s over.” As the shock wears off, Carol’s eyes begin to well up with tears as she sits beside Doug on the couch. “I never thought life would turn out like this,” Doug says. “That’s what I get for being sick.”
Aug. 19, just days after Doug has had another nearly weeklong stay at a local hospital. Earlier in the day, the couple attended a court hearing finalizing the foreclosure of their home. Now, four Mandan police officers are at the front door, and the Dworshaks must vacate their home immediately.
They thought they had one more day. Confused and overwrought, they're forced to leave behind several large appliances, furniture, dry goods and a freezer full of food. They spend the night in their RV, parked in the street.
“I feel overwhelmed; sometimes I feel hollow,” Carol says five weeks later. “Where are we going to go? I don’t know.”
The Dworshaks are now homeless and living in their cold, overstuffed RV with a leaky roof, parked on Carol’s sister’s property near Lincoln.
“It was OK for about a week,” Doug says. “Now we are moody and arguing all the time. Everything is so cramped.”
Carol wishes she had more privacy and room to move without bumping into Doug. “I try to look at the bright side, and I can’t find one,” she says, tears welling in her eyes. “We try to keep on going and we just can’t.”
As the days and weeks go on, the Dworshaks are hoping to find someplace to rent with the help of programs through Community Options and Burleigh County Housing Authority. The couple visits food pantries like Ministry on the Margins for help, as well.
As a last resort, The Dworshaks' daughter and son-in-law have property near rural Litchville, southwest of Valley City. The house, although in disrepair, is better than their current living conditions -- but it's far from job opportunities and medical care.
As he ponders what their future might be, Doug can't help but also look to the past. “Life was good before I got sick," he says.
Organizer and beneficiary
Pamela Carney Fenoff
Organizer
Mandan, ND
Carol Dworshak
Beneficiary
