Home for Christmas

Casie Park poses by her 2007 Jeep Liberty at her home on Northwest 3rd Street in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. Miley Park, 9, who is her youngest daughter, has been diagnosed with 11 illnesses, some of which could be critical. Park has 5 children and is being helped by Community With A Heart for repairs to her 2007 Jeep Liberty, which has over 264,000 miles on the odometer. Park, who works two jobs as a medical assistant, has already been helped by the homeless services team at Interfaith Emergency Services to find her housing she could afford. She is in need of a newer, more reliable vehicle, so that she can take Miley to Orlando on a weekly basis for treatment. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

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Posted December 7, 2022 |

Casie Park never thought she’d have to rely on outside help.

The medical assistant and mother of four (and foster mom to one more) defied the odds to keep her family together.

Park’s imperative had been, and still is, to provide stability and a sense of presence for her children that she didn’t experience growing up.

“After my oldest son was born 24 years ago, I had to basically let him live with another family,” she said. “It was then that I made a vow that if I ever , my goal was that I would raise them. Nobody else will. I will do everything in my power to raise my kids, and I’ve stood my ground.”

Last month, Ocala-based nonprofit Community With A Heart (CWAH) came through for Park with a grant of $734 to help Park get her car back on the road.

Park’s four biological kids at home range in age between 9 and adulthood with Dylan, the oldest at 18; Nathan, 16; Jadyn, 13; and Miley, 9. She took in Kyana, her son’s 18-year-old girlfriend, when her guardian, whom she considered her mom, died of cancer in September.

The family gets along well, Park said. The older children work and pitch in and help with driving the younger kids to school.

“Every year I do a ‘Polar Express’ night,” Park shared. “No matter what we’ve been through, we do it every year. For the next one coming up on the 20th, my mom will be here, my best friend. We’re going to have hot chocolate and popcorn, we’re going to make the cookies. We’re going to go to the square and take pictures in front of the tree before we watch the movie ‘Polar Express’ and then we’re going to try to fit in another movie if we can.”

The working mother of three teenagers and a 9-year-old daughter with autism has endured a long, obstacle-ridden, haul to get to a place of relative calm, but she is still worried about what lies ahead.

Four years ago, Park was hit with the sudden death of her younger brother, a sibling she regarded as her best friend. After that, she went to “a dark place” and a cascade of problems followed.

She had been working at Darrell’s Diner at the time. The owner, Darrell Warden, helped her with the expenses, but she had to take out a loan.

“I had a head-on collision in my new car, which had been very reliable, and they were supposed to fix it, and time and time again, we were sending it back to the mechanic,” she recalled. “But in the end, with the funeral cost and everything putting me in debt, we had lost everything.”

Amid rising property values, Park’s landlord decided to sell her home and she had nowhere to go. While she had some supportive loved ones, a home for a mother and five children is hard to come by even under relatively normal circumstances.

Park eventually received housing assistance.

“I became a high-priority case because I had the kids, and we couldn’t really stay in a hotel because my daughter has autism and meltdowns,” said the 39-year-old mom who also goes by the names Casaundra and KC.

But the housing provided to the Park family would soon become unlivable.

Employees at the Ocala Housing Authority connected Park with Interfaith Emergency Services, a faith-based nonprofit that helps Marion County residents in need.

Gloria Cribben, the engagement coordinator at Interfaith, met Park in May of 2022.

Cribben visited her Ocklawaha mobile home at the invitation of Brittian Schulz, a Marion County employee.

The Interfaith coordinator discovered that Park had moved from homelessness to the mobile home amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the living conditions were definitely substandard,” she wrote in an Interfaith newsletter, “but we were totally unprepared for the actual situation.”

On visiting Park, Cribben encountered a home with rats that had chewed their way into the kitchen from the roof. Roaches ran rampant and a dead rat was found in one child’s clothes hamper. Some electrical outlets were sparking and several bedroom windows were nailed shut, preventing exit in case of a fire.

She reached out to CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion, one of Interfaith’s partner agencies, to work with Park. On learning that she had prior medical assistant experience, they polished her resume and helped her improve her interview skills, and she was able to land a job as a medical assistant.

Cribben, Schulz and others worked on finding the Park family another home.

“God blessed us with a kindhearted landlady willing to accept below market value for her property because she was touched by Casie’s story,” Cribben said, adding that the Park family moved into their new home this past August.

The home on Northwest 3rd Street has five bedrooms, so now the older kids no longer need to share a bedroom, some for the first time in their lives. They received furniture from the Interfaith Thrift Store, but they are still in need of household items.

The home is a long way from her sons’ school, Lake Weir High School, and Park has to drive a long way from northwest Ocala in a car that still has severe issues.

“I fought really hard to get this far, and I was working two jobs,” Park said. “I’m down to one right now, but it’s only three days a week, so I’m still hunting for a better position with at least five days a week. …Right now, it’s enough to pay the bills, but nothing extra. This will be our first Christmas here, so our tree is very small, but we’re thankful to have one regardless.”

What would Park do if she could land that full-time job?

“I would like to finish furnishing our house a little more. We’ve been trying to get a couch and some more pots and pans …. The older kids asked for gift cards for clothes; the girls asked for lotions and bath gel sets and candles. My youngest daughter asked for one of the gaming chairs because she likes the fact that it rocks back and forth,” she said.

Interfaith Emergency Services CEO Karla Grimsley-Greenway said Park had to leave a lot of her things behind because of the condition of her former home.

“Casie doesn’t drink or do drugs. She’s been working hard and could use some more help,” she said.

Grimsley-Greenway praised Community With A Heart for helping get Park back on the road.

“While we’d been helping Casie from the start, they’ve helped punctuate our efforts — they’ve been the period at the end of this chapter,” she said.

Interfaith is still accepting donations on behalf of the Park family. Call (352) 629-8868 to make a donation or provide other means of assistance.

Park expressed gratitude to Grimsley-Greenway, Cribben and Paul Fletcher at the Housing Authority, in addition to her mom, Tina Anderson, and her best friend, Jill Hall; and, of course, her children.

“My No. 1 supporters are my kids,” Park said.

 

SIDEBAR

Community With A Heart

 

Now in its 36th year, CWAH has collected more than $1.8 million, of which $31,531.80 was raised during the 2021-2022 campaign. All of the donations go directly to help individuals and families living in Marion County.

“This program is not a handout, but a hand-up. CWAH assists individuals and families from all walks of life. We don’t want people who used to help others or never needed help before to feel embarrassed or ashamed because they now need assistance to get back on track. Life happens, and this program exists to help people in our community that need a little help,” said board chair Monica Bryant, the Family Violence Prevention Coordinator with the Marion County Children’s Alliance.

“CWAH is a remedy for the gaps that our local nonprofits can’t fill. All of the assistance goes for those needs that are outside of the normal services available in our community,” said Karla Grimsley-Greenway, CEO of Interfaith Emergency Services, one of the county’s largest social services agencies, who serves on the CWAH board. “For the families that receive assistance, it’s often their only hope.”

Those who are seeking assistance must apply through one of the agencies on the board, present recent documentation of the need and demonstrate self-sustainability. The CWAH board members meet once a week during the campaign to review applications that have been vetted by board members. The board member must make a home visit and the applicant must show some certification of need, such as two estimates from a certified car repair shop, if they are requesting help to get their car fixed.

To support the Community With A Heart campaign, make a donation online at ocalafoundation.org/community-foundation-funds/community-with-a-heart/ or mail a check to CWAH Fund, P.O. Box 1777, Ocala, FL 34478. Donations are tax deductible and go directly to help residents in Marion County.

 How to apply for CWAH assistance:

To seek help from Community With a Heart, contact one of the following agencies for a referral to the program to receive assistance: Marion County Children’s Alliance, Brother’s Keeper, Interfaith Emergency Services, Marion County School Social Services, Salvation Army Ocala/Marion County, Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida Inc., Ocala Housing Authority, Isaiah Foundation, Central Florida Community Action Agency, Marion County Community Services, Habitat for Humanity and Cleve Butler and James Jackson, who are Community-at- Large members.

Ongoing needs for CWAH:

• Marion County Children’s Alliance: Funds for emergency shelter in motel/hotel for victims and survivors of domestic violence, gas cards and new, unwrapped toys or gift cards for youth 12 to 18 years old. (352) 438-5993.
• Brother’s Keeper: Gas cards, bus passes, non-perishable food items and unwrapped toys for children ages 1-12. (352) 622-3846.
• Salvation Army Ocala/Marion County: Towels, twin-size sheets, blankets, bus passes and canned food items. (352) 732-8326.
• Interfaith Emergency Services: Towels, gloves, bus passes, new underwear and non-perishable food items (352) 629-8868.