Article Courtesy of The Ledger

By Mike Grogan
Published June 29, 2006

FOUR CORNERS -- Stories of low-income people without medical insurance having to make a choice between buying the medicines they need or food for their table have become commonplace.

Jo-Anne Frasca had to make a different choice. She had to decide between medicines to treat her heart condition or new sod for her yard.

The grass won out.

"I had no choice," she said. "If I didn't do it, I wouldn't have a place to live."

Frasca and her husband have owned a home in The Ridge, a community of manufactured homes on U.S. 27 in Northeast Polk County, since 1999. She works in a local retail store and he is a painter at a resort hotel. Neither has health insurance.

On Dec. 14, Jo-Anne Frasca suffered a heart attack and missed several weeks at work.

Just when she was able to return to her job, she got a notice from the management at The Ridge saying the grass in their yard was dying and it would have to be replaced with new sod.

"Three weeks later, we got a second notice that we had to put in the sod or be evicted," Frasca said.

Although the Frascas own the house they live in, they do not own the land on which it sits. They pay monthly rent on the lot because the lawn is owned by The Ridge, but they are responsible for its upkeep. The Frascas don't deny that the grass has died.

"We tried to keep it up, but it got too expensive," Bobby Frasca said.

When they moved into the home, the yard had been newly sodded and the management at The Ridge set the timer on their sprinkler system to run for four hours a day, seven days a week.

"They had it on for an hour a day in each zone," Bobby Frasca said. "There are four zones."

After they got their first water bill for more than $300, they cut the sprinkler back on their own.

In recent years they have followed county regulations on lawn irrigation, watering their yard one day per week.

But the drought that has parched the area since the beginning of the year has made it difficult for homeowners throughout the region to keep their lawns alive.

For the Frascas, taking care of the yard took on less importance than Jo-Anne Frasca's health and other family troubles.

The first notice from The Ridge came just as Bobby Frasca's father in Tennessee became critically ill and died in April.

The couple traveled to see him in February, telling the manager, Sue Langer, of the family crisis and that they would deal with the yard problem when they got back, but they needed an estimate on how much the re-sodding would cost.

Not long after they returned, they got an eviction notice from The Ridge.

"I told them the only way I could pay for it was to cut back on my medications, but that didn't seem to matter to them," Jo-Anne Frasca said.

Langer would not talk about the Frascas' situation except to say that if yards are watered properly, they can survive the dry months.

"All you need is an inch to an inch and a half of water a week," she said.

And so Jo-Anne and Bobby Frasca felt they had no choice but to have a new yard put in. The work would be done by The Ridge and the bill will be more than $1,800, which they can pay in installments.

"We asked if we could have Bahia grass put in because it's easier and less expensive to care for, but they said it has to be St. Augustine," Jo-Anne said.

And there is a second bill as well. That one is for $530 and is for lawyers' fees to pay for the eviction notice they were sent. That is to be paid in six installments of $88.35. The Frascas say that is unfair because they were never notified about the cost of the sod before they were informed about the eviction.

Jo-Anne Frasca said Langer told her that management had tried to contact them by phone but was unable to reach them.

She told us what number they had called, Jo-Anne Frasca said. "We haven't had that number for four years."

The Frascas have to make those payments as well as the ones for the sod directly to The Ridge.

"They won't even tell us the name of the lawyer," Jo-Anne Frasca said.

In the meantime, she has cut back on the medicines she takes, especially the high blood-pressure medications that are so important in keeping a second attack from occurring.

"I was spending over $300 a month in pills," Jo-Anne Frasca said. "I'm supposed to be taking five a day, but I'm only taking two instead. I'm saving approximately $150 a week."

And that's not the only cutback they've made to pay for the yard The Ridge is getting ready to put in.

"She's only been to see her doctor once since December," Bobby said. "It costs $250 for an office call and we just can't afford it."

But they'll soon have a new lawn to look at -- and take care of.

"If they put this sod in and I can only water it once a week, I'm afraid it will die again," Jo-Anne Frasca said. "What do we do then?'

The answer, of course, is hope the rainy season is on time and will last long enough to pay the bill so she can go back on her medication.

LETTER TO EDITOR:

Community Position Of Requiring Sod Over Medicine Is Inhumane