Son Trying To Raise $25,000 To Save NJ Mother's Home

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Life has thrown a lot of curveballs at Heather Stamatogiannis.

When she was 22, her then 2-year-old daughter suffered a stroke and has needed special care ever since. At 32, she became a widow, raising three children by herself; soon after she developed significant medical issues that have left her unable to work.

At 44, she and her daughter, Brianna, who is 24, are facing the possibility of losing their home due to a property tax lien that was sold. And time is running out: the company that purchased the tax lien is threatening to force them out of the home if the lien and legal fees aren’t paid by Oct. 15.

“It’s the only place they can afford to live,” Heather’s son, Andrew Holden, said in phone interview. The mortgage on the home is paid off, but the Social Security Disability Insurance that Heather receives for herself and her daughter isn’t enough to cover what’s owed on the tax lien.

Holden, who started a GoFundMe campaign seeking to help his mom, said the estimate to pay the lien and the company’s fees is $25,000.

“I wish I could go to the bank and pull out $25,000, but I don’t have that,” Holden said.

Heather isn't the type to ask for help, he said, and she is very positive even in the face of all her challenges. That's why he has taken the steps to try to take care of her future.

“My mom took care of me while I was growing up," he said. "Helping her in her time of need is payback for what she’s done for me.”

“If they lose their home they have nowhere else to go,” he said. Holden and his girlfriend just moved into their own small place, and his younger brother is working his way through college and not able to help, he said.

Holden said he and his mom and sister moved to New Jersey 24 years ago. His mother met John Stamatogiannis when she worked for him as a waitress at the Plaza Diner in Lakehurst, and they later married. The small ranch home where the family has lived for more than 20 years was built by John Stamatogiannis, Holden said.

"He treated us like we were his own children," Holden said. "My parents gave us a great life."

But after John Stamatogiannis died on Christmas night 2009 from pancreatic cancer, it left the family with more than just grief; they now had financial stress as he had been the primary financial support.

Heather suffers from a number of health issues, Holden said, including systemic lupus and fibromyalgia. Those problems worsened significantly after John's death, Holden said, adding that doctors have said the stress of the loss is likely to blame.

Over time, it has made it extremely difficult for Heather to leave the house, Holden said, let alone work. That has strained the finances, which already were stressed to the need to care for Brianna.

Brianna, who is now 24, has Down syndrome and epilepsy, and suffers as many as 100 seizures a day. She has been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum and also recently was diagnosed with Graves disease. After suffering a stroke at 2 years old that caused severe brain damage, Brianna suffered another serious stroke when she was 17, he said. She is in a wheelchair and is paralyzed on her left side, Holden said.

“She can't walk or talk,” Holden said, who is her paid caregiver through a program operated by the state.

While the home is paid off, having two adults receiving Social Security Disability Insurance payments doesn't leave much beyond the day-to-day costs of living, he said. That's how the property taxes fell into arrears and were sold at a tax sale in 2019.

"My mother has been struggling to get the money together due to COVID and both of their medical issues," and because the company that bought the tax lien has paid each year of property taxes in full at the start of the year, it's "nearly impossible to catch up," Holden said.

Holden said they have explored other options but were not successful in helping get the funding to pay the lien and the legal fees. He said that if he can get his mother through the crisis of repaying the tax lien, he has plans in place to make sure she is never in the situation again.

“She has done everything she can to give us the best lives she possibly could and is struggling right now since her medical issues have gotten worse,” Holden said. “I’m just hoping we can figure out something in time to save the house."

Those who wish to help can contribute to the GoFundMe here.

GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner.

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