‘Everything is gone’: How Modesto man still finds hope during coronavirus pandemic
Tim LaRosa almost found a home to call his own when the coronavirus outbreak threatened to upend the life he hoped to rebuild.
Seventeen months ago, the 53-year-old lost his business, his car, his place to live and his savings. He moved in with his sister in Modesto, picked up three jobs and stayed sober. He went to counseling, took care of his dog and saved enough money to pay the security deposit and first month’s rent for a one-bedroom house.
But in a four-day period last month, he lost all three jobs: working security at a bar, technician for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and babysitting his granddaughter. State orders closed the bar, few businesses needed ventilation for customers and his newly-unemployed daughter-in-law could take care of the 2-year-old. For four weeks, LaRosa struggled to find reasons to stay positive.
“Everything that I was working toward got pushed away,” he told the Bee after a month without work. “Once again, everything is gone. Now we have bill collectors calling.”
Upheaval before the coronavirus pandemic
Although the loss of income has delayed his plans to move out, his sister Jodi Pierce said she has watched him recover from setbacks repeatedly. When LaRosa moved in, he had just finished eight months of jail time over a fight that turned violent.
An October 2018 hearing led to his release, Santa Clara County court records show, but by then LaRosa’s landlord had allegedly evicted him. The landlord also took over his dog day care business, LaRosa said, removing the title Sanity’s Play n Stay which honored LaRosa’s pit bill.
His car got repossessed and after spending $22,000 on attorney fees, he had no savings. His bankruptcy filings a few years ago didn’t help, either.
Even so, Pierce said she has watched her brother set goals and prioritize his life around family. She appreciates how he helps around the house while respecting how she raises her children. Once the pandemic gets under control, she expects him to keep persisting.
“I see him getting right back on track,” Pierce said. “Going back to setting aside his money and being able to get a place for him and Sanity so they can be on their own and do their own thing.”
Finding hope amid uncertainty
On Tuesday – about a week after an initial interview – La Rosa told The Bee he found reasons to stay hopeful amid the pandemic.
First, two days of technician work gave him a $500 paycheck. Second, he filed paperwork for childcare provider back pay and expects $600 from the state. Third, he filed the taxes he owed and hopes to receive the $1,200 stimulus check from the federal government.
Altogether, the sum is more than the $1,800 he saved to move out of his sister’s house. LaRosa depleted all but about $250 of those savings, but said he will soon be able to make the rent payment Pierce let him skip.
His life coach Holly Walrod-Whitehurst, who is a psychologist, described how LaRosa is coping during coronavirus-induced instability as proof of his resiliency.
“Even if he falls into a dark place and he’s dealing with real and personal struggles,” Walrod-Whitehurst said, “he draws on a sense of ‘OK, I’ve been through this. I’ve been through dark times and I’ve come to the other side.’ He’s worked really hard to create that sense of resilience within himself to see the opportunities that lie ahead.”
Overall, she said LaRosa is impressing her with how he currently practices the skills he learned in the past few years of hardship.
“It makes it worth it to not give up,” LaRosa said Tuesday. “Even though there’s times where it feels like the harder I try the harder somebody keeps trying to push me back down. It gets really overwhelming and I just keep going.”
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 2:07 PM.
