1 Family Had Packed Up While Awaiting Lake Home
posted May 29, 2008
) Photo by Wes Schultz Diane and Tony Sharp, shown with some of the more than 100 foster children they have cared for over the years, are still in a double wide mobile home after being promised a free new house. The pledge was made by financier Luis H. Rivas, who was forced into bankruptcy earlier this month. |
Diane Sharp, who has cared for over 100 foster children along with her husband, Tony, said she was among foster families summoned for a special luncheon at the Mayor's Mansion Inn in Fort Wood last December.
Mrs. Sharp, who cares for four children currently in the couple's double wide mobile home in Soddy-Daisy, said they were called by a state Department of Children's Services caseworker to attend the luncheon.
She said there were five families in all, who were greeted by members of the staff of Luis H. Rivas' The Money Tree Foundation, at the swanky bed and breakfast inn that was then owned by Mr. Rivas.
Mrs. Sharp said, "All these people were there taking our picture and making us feel like we were something. Then Mr. Rivas showed up and took all the kids into a room and gave them $100 bills taped to $100 gift cards."
She said Forex Project operator Rivas, who on May 15 was forced into involuntary bankruptcy in Chattanooga, then met separately with the parents, telling them he was "a messenger from God."
She said Mr. Rivas announced that he had decided he was going to pay off what each of them owed on their homes and then was going to buy them new homes.
Mrs. Sharp said, "He told us we would have to give away our own house, and his gift would be his blessing to us."
She said, "We were all in shock. Our mouths just dropped.
"He told us to start dreaming, and that this was going to really happen."
Mrs. Sharp said, "We went home and started calling everybody we knew. We were shouting to the rafters."
But she said they did not hear from The Money Tree, and she finally called its executive director, Diane Bouton. She said it was arranged that the families would go in February to the local Rivas headquarters at the Forex Project at Bonny Oaks.
She said they met with Ms. Bouton and the personal assistant to Mr. Rivas. They were told that he was away on business in Orlando.
Mrs. Sharp said they were asked what they wanted in a new house and were told to "dream big." She said she told them she had always wanted to live on the water because the family liked fishing and boating. She wanted a two-story, four-bedroom house.
She said afterwards they again did not hear from the Rivas group, then she got a call from another foster parent saying the dream "was not going to happen." The other foster parent said she had learned that the Rivas operation had closed down, including The Money Tree Foundation.
Mrs. Sharp said, "I'm not mad or anything, but it was really depressing and a letdown for us. I had packed up a lot of our things in boxes. One whole room is full of boxes. And we had arranged to give this place to our son. Now he's disappointed, too.
"I had to go back and tell all the people I had called after the luncheon. Some of them had never believed it in the first place."
She said her husband, who is disabled, has suffered from depression since the bubble burst.
Mrs. Sharp said, "We've shed a lot of tears since we found out."
Tane Levin, who has overseen 10 children at one time with her husband, Dale, said they got the call, too, for a special luncheon.
She said it was her first trip to the Mayor's Mansion Inn.
Mrs. Levin said, "I was surprised there were only a few foster families there. I thought a lot more would be invited."
She said there were pictures taken, and they learned that a financier named Luis Rivas had read letters about them and selected them to be honored.
She said Mr. Rivas came out from where he had been meeting with someone in a back room and told about learning of the faithful fostering by Curly Holloway, who has raised a number of foster boys. She said Mr. Rivas said he had decided Mrs. Holloway's house was too small and he was going to buy her a new house.
Mrs. Levin said Mr. Rivas then shocked the group by saying, "I'm going to pay off what you owe on all your houses and buy you new ones."
She said, "Oh, my God. We were so shocked. We couldn't believe it."
She said he told them the process would take about six months, but they should start looking for a new home.
Mrs. Levin said, "At first I thought it was crazy. Nobody's going to give you something like that. But he seemed very sincere about it."
She said Mr. Rivas told them, "I do things for people all the time."
Mrs. Levin said he also told them that the idea for the luncheon was by Diane Bouton.
She said Ms. Bouton later told her that she herself was shocked by Mr. Rivas' offer to buy the houses. Ms. Bouton said he apparently decided on the spot to do that.
Mrs. Levin said $5,000 checks were handed out to each of the five families to buy Christmas presents. She said Mr. Rivas examined the checks and saw they were on an out-of-state bank. She said he then took those checks up, saying local banks might not cash them in time for Christmas.
He then wrote out $5,000 checks on his personal account and passed them out. She said that check "cashed just fine."
Mrs. Levin said Curly Holloway arrived late to the luncheon, and when she learned she was also getting a new house "she started crying." Mrs. Levin said one of her foster children then leaned over and hugged her. She said that prompted Mr. Rivas to hand three $100 bills to the boy, saying the hug showed he had a good heart.
Mrs. Levin said of the luncheon, "It was just a great day. You have no idea how excited we were. It was like being part of a dream."
She said Mr. Rivas had promised to pay off the money owed on their house. She said that would be a boon to her family since they have a 5,000-square-foot house in East Brainerd and owe $490,000 on it.
She said she and her husband told The Money Tree people they already had their dream house, but welcomed getting it paid off. She said, "We operate two businesses now, and it would have meant we could have quit those jobs and just been parents."
She said they did request that Mr. Rivas pay for knocking out a wall between two of the rooms in the house to make it into one big room.
She said The Money Tree staff also said they might arrange for the crew from the TV show Xtreme Makeover to redo their house.
Mrs. Levin said it so happened that the young wife of the 53-year-old Rivas came into her husband's pinball firm and bought a pinball machine for Mr. Rivas' birthday present.
She said it was learned that Mrs. Rivas had a personal assistant, a nanny and a housekeeper and lived in a beautiful house in Ooltewah.
She said the pinball machine was delivered to the Rivas house, and when the check was written on the account of Luis Rivas, the Levins found out it was from their benefactor.
Mrs. Levin said when they did not hear any more about their gift, she called the Forex office and did not get an answer. She said she then reached Ms. Bouton on her cell phone.
She said Ms. Bouton informed her that The Money Tree Foundation had closed down "and nothing was going to happen for us."
She said Ms. Bouton said she had been told to come to the office and pick up only her personal belongings.
Mrs. Levin said Ms. Bouton "said she was sorry. She said she was out of a job herself."
Mrs. Levin said realizing the dream was not going to come true "was brutal. You make all of these plans, and now none of it is going to happen. It's been bad."
She added, "We've thought about seeing a lawyer. But how do you sue someone over a gift that didn't happen?"
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