Temple Daily Telegram August 15, 2006 Robert Stinson "House Moving Experience" Rose Garden home falls off pier, beam foundation---nine were inside, none injured Temple Fire and Rescue crews got more than they bargained for when they responded to a call of a woman experiencing difficulty breathing Monday evening. Just as fire department personnel and Scott and White EMS crews were leaving the building, located at 820 E. Ave A, fell off its pier and beam foundation. The entire house shifted about four feet to one side and dropped nearly four feet to the ground. The walls and roof of the building stayed intact. Deputy Chief Francisco Corona, who had responded to the original medicall call on Avenue A at about 7:03 p.m., said he and the EMS crew had just reached the end of a wheelchair ramp leading from the front door of the pink house when a loud cracking noise alerted them to a problem. "We turned and saw the house shift and then saw the house drop as it fell off of its foundation," he said. "My first reaction was to call for more help," he said. "Then we had to find how many people were in the house and account for them," he said. The house, one of 12 Rose Garden houses, had about nine residents in it at the time of the collapse, but according to Corona, no one was seriously injured and no one was transported to the hospital other than the woman experiencing shortness of breath. Sherri Slaton, executive director of the Rose Garden, said loss of the house is devastating for the organization. "This is a big blow," she said. "We don't have that kind of money to fix the house." Corona said it was likely the house could not be fixed and would be demolished. Ms. Slaton said the displaced residents would be relocated to the other houses that make up the Rose Garden, which she said has a total of 68 residents. Richard Therriault, director of construction safety for the city of Temple, said he could not specify the cause of the collapse although dry conditions could have been a contributing factor. He also pointed out piers made of concrete had been topped by segments of telephone poles that were not anchored. He said, though, that that was not against city codes. The Rose Garden, founded by the late Al Slaton in 1980, is an unofficial care facility for the mentally ill, ex-convicts, the homeless and others. Temple Daily Telegram August 17, 2006 By Clay Coppedge "Future of Rose Garden in doubt" The future of the Rose Garden might be in doubt after a house at 820 E. Avenue A collapsed Monday night, but executive director Sherri Slaton is not ready to throw in the towel just yet. "We're not giving up, but we don't know right now that we'll make it," Ms. Slaton said Wednesday morning. "It's a major blow, financially and otherwise." No one was hurt when the house fell of its pier and beam foundation, shifting nearly four feet to the ground. "It could have been a lot worse," Ms. Slaton said. "We're so thankful that no one was hurt or killed." On Wednesday afternoon Ms. Slaton found out that United Way of Central Texas has pledged a $15,000 challenge grant toward the $40,000 needed to purchase a house next door to the one that fell. The new house would replace the fallen one. Ann Thompson, executive director of United Way of Central Texas, said she and the United Way board of directors believe the community has a responsibility to help the Rose Garden continue. "Sherri is doing the best she can, almost single-handedly, to help meet the needs of people whose needs wouldn't be met otherwise," Ms. Thompson said. "She needs the help of the community now." Ms. Slaton said the best solution to the current crisis would be to purchase the house next to the one that collapsed. The $15,000 challenge grant will go a long way toward making that happen, she said. "This will put me back in the ball game," she said. "It's a huge load off my shoulders." Judy Morales, director of the Bell County HELP Center, visited the Rose Garden on Wednesday. Afterward, she said she hopes the center can help with funding assistance for the Rose Garden. "It's important because the Rose Garden provides services that on one else does," Ms. Morales said. "State hospitals today are limited as to who they can admit. It comes back to the communities." The Rose Garden was founded in 1980 by Ms. Slaton's late husband, Al Slaton, who died in September of last year. It consists of a row of houses along Avenue A and a placement house on 25th street. It has served for the last quarter century as a non-profit, unofficial halfway house, a refuge for the mentally ill, the homeless and others down on their luck. The house that fell on Monday was known as "The Pink House" and was a cornerstone of the Rose Garden complex. "That was the first house we had at the Rose Garden," Ms. Slaton said. "The people we bought it from came by yesterday and they started crying. They were married in that house. Al and I were married there, too." The house, which will have to be demolished, served as the Rose Garden's kitchen and dining area. Since its collapse, Clem Mikeska's Barbecue, Al's Bar-B-Q Barn, H-E-B, and Kerley's Grocery and Market have donated food while another Rose Garden kitchen is readied for use by residents. The new kitchen, at 816 E. Ave A, is expected to be up and running by the end of the week. Residents who were living at the house have been moved to other Rose Garden houses, but two volunteer employees had to spend two nights at a local motel. The Rose Garden has applied for grants, including one with the Rapoport Foundation in Waco. Dallas philanthropist Jess Hay has been a major financial contributor to the Rose Garden from the first, but Hay is out of town this week and as of Wednesday hadn't been contacted about the latest crisis. Ms. Slaton said the house that fell was leveled three years ago and passed its latest inspection two weeks ago. "I've never seen a house do that before," she said. "I woke up the next morning and hoped it was just a bad dream because that's what it seemed like, a nightmare." In addition to the crisis at the Rose Garden, Ms. Slaton found out Tuesday night that her older brother had died in Arizona. "There has been a lot to deal with," she said. This isn't the first time the Rose Garden has faced a major crisis. In 1998, the Department of Human Services raided the Rose Garden, charged Al Slaton with running an unlicensed care facility and put the Rose Garden under the supervision of a court-appointed trustee. The state filed suit to have the Rose Garden shut down in 1999. Al Slaton responded with a motion to vacate the injunction, and Judge Paul Davis of the 126th District Court in Austin suspended the motion in June 1999. The latest crisis again casts an uncertain future for the Rose Garden, but Ms. Slaton said the staff and residents are coping the best they can. "We're taking it one day at a time," she said. "Everybody's working together. We're doing what we can." The people who would suffer the most if the Rose Garden closed would be the people who live there, she said. "There's places out there but they don't take people like a lot of the people we bring here," she said. "We've always taken in the people who had nowhere else to go. That's always been our mission." Temple Daily Telegram Friday, August 18, 2006 By Clay Coppedge "Fund-raisers set to aid Rose Garden" Three days after a house at the Rose Garden shifted on its foundation and collapsed, the outlook for the non-profit shelter on Avenue A in Temple is looking brighter. In addition to a challenge grant of $15,000 from United Way of Central Texas that was issued on Wednesday, fund-raisers are scheduled for Saturday at Wal-Mart and for Sunday at Lowe's Home Improvement. Also, a fund has been set up at Extraco Bank for those who wish to make a donation to help keep the Rose Garden in operation. The Wal-Mart fund-raiser is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19, at both entrances to the store. Store manager Joe Stewart said Thursday that the nature of the crisis at the Rose Garden is unique, and that only a strong response from the community can keep it in operation. "We feel persuaded to make a commitment to help this situation, and this is something we can do for them," Stewart said. "When there is a flood or a hurricane or a tornado or some kind of natural disaster, the Red Cross and government agencies are set up to respond. The Rose Garden is a unique situation. We can offer a location on a weekend, when hopefully there will be a lot of traffic and more people will have the opportunity to help." The fund-raiser at Lowe's will be 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Those wishing to donate to the Rose Garden through Extraco Bank may do so by visiting any Extraco Bank and making a contribution to the Rose Garden Crisis Fund, Debbie Martin at Extraco said Thursday. Sherri Slaton, the Rose Garden executive director, said the city has pledged help with leveling the house that fell along with one at 903 E. Avenue A, which was closed last year because it was deemed unsafe. The Temple High School ROTC has also pledged to help with Saturday's fund-raiser and at Temple's first home game of the season, she said. "The night it happened and the day after, I was thinking the worst," she said. "Things are looking a lot better today. We're getting a good response from the community. We have a way to go, but we're off to a good start." The Rose Garden was founded in 1980 and consists of a row of houses along Avenue A and a placement house on 25th street. It has served for the last quarter century as a non-profit unofficial halfway house, a refuge for the mentally ill, the homeless and others who have nowhere to go. The house that fell on Monday was known as The Pink House and served as the Rose Garden's kitchen and dining area. The house will have to be demolished. Several area restaurants have donated food to help feed the 68 Rose Garden residents until another kitchen can be established at another Rose Garden house. The United Way challenge grant of $15,000 will go toward the purchase of a house next door to the one that fell. The cost of that house is $40,000, Ms. Slaton said. It would replace the fallen house. Money raised through the upcoming fund-raisers and through donations will go toward the purchase of that house, she said. Temple Telegram Friday, September 1, 2006 By Clay Coppedge "Rose Garden house donations about $14,000" More than two weeks after a house at the Rose Garden collapsed, the non-profit unofficial halfway house for the mentally ill and homeless received about $14,000 in donations toward the purchase of a house next door to the one that collapsed. The Rose Garden Crisis Fund received a boost on Thursday with an anonymous donation of $5,000. Fund-raisers at Wal-Mart and Lowe's, respectively, raised about $3,000. Others have donated about $6,000 through the United Way of Central Texas which in the days after the collapse issued a challenge grant of $15,000 to help purchase a house next to the one that collapsed. The cost of that house, located at 812 E. Avenue A, is $40,000, meaning that the Rose Garden needed $25,000 to receive the United Way challenge grant. That leaves the Rose Garden, as of Thursday, needing about $11,000 to meet the United Way challenge. Anne Thompson, director of United Way of Central Texas, said Thursday that as bas as the crisis is, it has brought the mission and the work that is done at the Rose Garden to the public's attention. "A lot more people now are aware of what the Rose Garden is and the service it provides to the community," she said. "The response and the donations have been uplifting. This community is coming through at a very critical time." The Rose Garden was founded in 1980 by Sherri Slaton's late husband, Al Slaton, who died in September 2005. It consists of a row of houses along Avenue A and a placement house on 25th street. About 70 people live there. "I feel a lot more hopeful about it than I did when the house first fell," Ms. Slaton said Thursday. "We appreciate all the businesses and individuals that have rallied to our aid and got us to this point, plus the support we've had from the city. We have a way to go, but we're still working to get there." She said the small personal donations have meant a lot, including a Hurricane Katrina evacuee who dropped by with a $100 donation the week the house collapsed. Ms. Slaton has looked at other avenues of replacing the house that collapsed, but moving a house from another location, which has been considered, would cost between $10,000 and $20,000, plus possible additional costs of bringing the house up to city codes. The house that fell on Aug. 14 had recently been leveled, which is meant to keep the house from shifting on its foundation, which is what happened to the one that collapsed. "Aside from moving it, there would be the cost of hooking it up and leveling, which kind of scares me right now," she said. "The house at 812 (Avenue A) is up to code and it's already there. It doesn't have to be moved. That still looks like the best route to take." Temple Daily Telegram Thursday, September 7, 2006 By Clay Coppedge "Funds met to buy house for Rose Garden" Donations from Temple businessman Dell Martin key to meeting $40,000 goal   Three weeks and one day after a house at the Rose Garden complex shifted on its foundation and collapsed, the local refuge for the homeless and mentally ill has raised $40,000 toward replacing the home that collapsed. Temple businessman Dell Martin told Rose Garden executive director Sherri Slaton on Tuesday that he will donate enough money to complete a fund-raising effort to buy the house at 812 E. Avenue A. Martin's donation, coupled with a $15,000 challenge grant from United Way of Central Texas and about $14,000 in previous donations, will meet the Rose Garden's goal of raising $40,000. Ann Thompson, executive director United Way of Central Texas, said Wednesday that reaching the $40,000 goal is a big first step toward keeping the Rose Garden going, but not the final one. "We hope people will continue to support the Rose Garden and its mission," she said. "They need money for upkeep, electricity and maintenance. This is an ongoing commitment." Martin's crucial donation pledge came two days before the first anniversary of Rose Garden founder Al Slaton's death on Sept. 7, 2005. Al Slaton established the Rose Garden in 1980 as a non-profit, unofficial halfway house, a refuge for the mentally ill, the homeless and others down on their luck. It consists of a row of houses along Avenue A and a placement house on 25th street. About 70 people who otherwise would have no place to go call it home. Martin said Wednesday that he has had donating to the Rose Garden on his mind for the better part of the last ten years. "It's been in my heart to do something for them for a long time," he said. "When I saw the articles in the paper, I knew this was the time." The 26-year existence of the Rose Garden was put in jeopardy on Aug. 14 when the house, usually referred to as the Pink House, shifted on its foundation. Nine people were inside the house at the time but no one was injured. Ms. Slaton said two days after the collapse that she wasn't sure the Rose Garden would be able to continue. She said buying the house at 812 E. Avenue A would solve the problem, but money to run the Rose Garden has always been one of its major issues. The first break in the crisis came when United Way of Central Texas offered the challenge grant, which left the Rose Garden needing $25,000 to buy the house. Two fund-raisers, one at Wal-Mart and another at Lowe's, raised a little more than $2,000. Wal-Mart donated an additional $1,000 and about $6,600 was donated through United Way. An anonymous donor contributed $5,000 last week, which left the Rose Garden a little more than $10,000 shy of its goal. Martin's donation, which he will make through United Way of Central Texas, was a huge relief for Ms. Slaton. "I didn't want to but I couldn't help crying when he told me he was going to donate enough money to make up the difference," she said Wednesday. "I really appreciate United Way and the people in the community standing up and supporting me like this." Martin, an Austin native, started Texas Hydraulics on a shoestring budget in 1968. He sold it to Dover in 1988, and has run a real-estate business, Pro Ventures and contributed to various philanthropic causes since then. The Dell Martin Nursing Education Center at Temple College is named in honor of a donation he made to help fund renovation of that facility. Martin stressed on Wednesday that his commitment to the Rose Garden will continue beyond this donation. "We'll be able to donate material they may need for the new house, or for upkeep of the other houses. We want it to keep going," he said. Temple Daily Telegram October 10, 2006 New home--Sherri Slaton, executive director of the Rose Garden, stands in front of house that will replace the "Pink House" which collapsed on Aug. 14. The houses serve as a refuge for the home- less and mentally ill. (Photo by Scott Gaulin) Less than two months after a house at the Rose Garden shifted on its foundation and collapsed, the non-profit organization will finalize the purchase today of a new house next door to the one that collapsed. United Way of Central Texas and the Rose Garden are scheduled to officially close on the house with a press conference scheduled for 2 p.m. at Centraland Title Company. The ceremony will cap weeks of fund-raising and community involvement to keep the Rose Garden operating. In the days following the house’s collapse, United Way of Central Texas issued a $15,000 challenge grant toward the $40,000 needed to buy the house next door. The rest of the money was raised through fund-raisers at Lowe’s, Wal-Mart and St. Mary’s Catholic School, more than $6,000 in donations through United Way as well as a $5,000 anonymous donation and a $10,000 donation from Temple businessman Del Martin. Sherri Slaton, executive director of the Rose Garden, said the involvement of the United Way and others in the community have restored her hope for a better tomorrow for the Rose Garden. “I would have to say that the Rose Garden is blooming and heading toward a brighter future thanks to the help of so many people in the community,” Ms. Slaton said Monday. “There’s power in numbers and now I realize, more than ever, that I am not alone.” The Rose Garden was founded in 1980 by Ms. Slaton’s late husband, Al Slaton, as a refuge for the homeless and mentally ill. In its quarter-century-plus of existence, the Rose Garden has faced more than its share of trials and tribulations, including a 1998 raid by the Department of Human Services. The latest crisis came on Aug. 14 when a house affectionately known as the Pink House shifted on its foundation and collapsed. Nine people were inside the house at the time. Though no one was seriously injured, the Rose Garden’s future was again put in jeopardy. Ann Thompson, executive director of United Way of Central Texas, said the community was already stepping up to help even before the challenge grant was issued. "It is so heart-warming every time we see the community step in when there are those in need, especially in a population such as those served by the Rose Garden, which doesn't have a lot of resources," she said. Ms. Slaton said that in the days following the collapse of the house she prayed for a miracle. "I know my purpose is at the Rose Garden and I was desperate for a miracle," she said. "The following day miracles started happening." "Judy Morales (director of Bell County HELP center) showed up at the Rose Garden, and that afternoon Ann Thompson called and told me about the $15,000 challenge grant. These really seem like miracles to me." The house that collapsed was the center point of the Rose Garden complex, which consists of a row of houses on Avenue A. The people who were living in the Pink House were moved to other houses in the interim. The current residents of the Rose Garden's new house are in the process of moving out of the home. Ms. Slaton said Rose Garden residents should be able to move into the new house early next month. Even with the new house, the Rose Garden's financial struggles are ongoing, Ms. Slaton said.  "We're still not out of the woods yet," she said. "Paying the utility bills has been a struggle but I'm doing my best to stay the course one day at a time. Once I get the two-story house going I'll get more people. I already have a waiting list." An investigation into why the Pink House collapsed is ongoing, and legal action is still a possibility, Ms. Slaton said. "Now I'm ready for the house to be demolished even though this is painful because the Pink House holds a lot of warm memories. "No one was killed so I can live with it. I'm ready to move forward into the future and work on making the Rose Garden better for the people who live there. That's what it's all about---- the people at the Rose Garden."     Keep coming back for updates!