It’s great to be able to help people, and Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser has been doing their best for South Floridians for 16 years here at 7News. But they also need help, and there are incredible people in South Florida who step forward. Who are they? Meet some of them in tonight’s Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
Sometimes a South Floridian steps forward, and sometimes a lot of South Floridians step forward.
Rochelle Hartley: “And all of a sudden, I feel this huge force in my ear, and my ear starts hurting really, really bad.”
Earlier this year, a classmate accidentally blew his baritone into Rochelle’s ear.
Judith Lim: “The grades began to fall, so we were introduced to F’s.”
The pain in her ear made it impossible to go to school and left her bedridden much of the time. Then our story aired.
Aryeh Fraser: “I turned around to my wife, ‘Hey, I’m helping this girl out.'”
Aryeh Fraser raised $4,000 to pay Rochelle’s doctor’s bills.
The Goldson Spine Rehabilitation Center donated their skills to help treat her.
Dr. Fidel Goldson: “When I actually got to interact with her, she makes you want to help her.”
The women’s group at La Casa del Señor donated a food basket. A man sent a $200 money order. Rochelle and her mother were stunned.
Judith Lim (to Patrick): “I have to hug you, I have to hug you!”
Peggy and Louise needed more than a hug after they paid a company to put a sign over their Margate adult day care facility. Then the company they paid disappeared.
Louise Smith: “Well, I felt cheated.”
Peggy Hopper: “Cheated.”
Louise Smith: “Angry.”
Matthew Blank from Davie’s Signarama saw our story and stepped forward.
Matthew Blank: “I just couldn’t let it happen.”
Matthew created and installed a new sign for Amazing Age Adult Day Care for free.
Peggy Hopper: “We really want to thank Signarama and Matt. He has just been awesome.”
No one could put the pieces back together for Janice Bauer after a cleaning company knocked her family heirlooms off a wall.
Janice Bauer: “They’re called Hummels, little German figurines that were started back in about 1929.”
Fifteen of the Hummels were destroyed. The cleaning company’s insurance company only wanted to pay $415 for items that once belonged to Janice’s grandmother.
Sharon Kerwick: “I’m doing this professionally and ethically so that you can be treated fairly.”
Then Sharon Kerwick, a well-known and respected expert on antiques, donated her skills. She put together a very detailed report revealing the value of the Hummels.
Sharon Kerwick: “There’s eight different marks on Hummels.”
The insurance company read it and gave Janice three times what they originally offered.
Janice Bauer: “I am amazed by her report. I am absolutely amazed.”
Lots of other people stepped forward to help us help you as well.
Johnny Gomez: “One, two, three, four, five.”
Johnny got five tickets from a police officer for riding his motorized bike. Since his license had already been suspended, he was facing jail.
Enrique Ferrer saw our story and took care of that.
Enrique Ferrer: “We were able to get four of the five tickets completely dismissed, and then we were able to close one of them in a way that would get him no points on his license.”
Gary Lavalle: “And she says, ‘You’re crazy. I said, ‘What do you mean I am crazy?’ She says, ‘No one has a lifetime lease.'”
Gary Lavalle and his mother found a lifetime lease they signed 25 years earlier with Royal Country Mobile Home Community. The park had quit honoring the lease years ago and raised their rents for everyone for years.
Gary Lavalle: “‘Oh, if you have lease, it expired.’ How does something ‘lifetime’ expire?”
When Ron Rodriguez saw what Royal Country was doing to Gary and two other renters with lifetime leases, he offered to represent them for free.
Ron Rodriguez: “If justice is served, they will get back the last five years that they overpaid. Hopefully, they’ll get back interest on their money, and going forward, the company will then honor the terms of their agreement.”
That makes sense. What happened to Elizabeth’s mother-in-law Luisa Suarez made no sense.
Elizabeth Hernandez: “He is denying her the right to park her car in her parking space.”
The property manager at Countryside Village wouldn’t tell us why he took 87-year-old Luisa’s parking space from her. It made no sense to Duane Baum either, so he volunteered to take her case.
Duane Baum: “They are violating the Florida statutes, which govern condominiums. They are also in violation of their condominium documents.”
Duane then filed a complaint with the State of Florida. Countryside Villages agreed to let Luisa have her parking space back while the legal battle rolls on, because Luisa and her daughter in law are not giving up.
Elizabeth Hernandez: “I’m going to fight this to the end, because he cannot deny her her rights.”
And Duane is determined to get the condo association to follow the law, and maybe find out why a property manager thinks he can take a space away from a property owner.
People are busy in South Florida, but in 2014 we saw so many people volunteer their time to help us help you. And as we begin our 17th year of doing Help Me Howard, 2015 will be the same, because there are a lot of great, generous people out there.
A problem shattered you? Want someone to hear you? Park it in our spot. Hopefully we can give you a new lease on life to last a lifetime. Really bad attempts at puns there.
Happy New Year, everyone! With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
E-mail: helpmeHoward@wsvn.com (please include your contact phone number when e-mailing)
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN