It was perhaps the darkest time of the Great Recession in Manteca.
It was January 2008. There was a sense of foreboding. Fear was growing and so was the lawlessness.
To some, Manteca was starting to seem like a bad remake of “Escape from New York City.” Enraged borrowers evicted from homes were leaving them thoroughly trashed. Some sledge-hammered bath tubs. Others ripped out sinks. More than a couple poured concrete down water drains. Carpets were deliberately ruined. Holes were punched into walls. Abandoned McMansions were turned into flop houses. Police were called out almost daily to chase transients, drug users, and even under-age kids gathering for parties from homes that once sold for $600,000.
Plunging prices, skyrocketing inventory, and a dearth of buyers seemed to more than a few to signal an approaching collapse. The American Dream - in short - was going on the auction block to get hammered but on the way the symbol of prosperity was being transformed by anger and opportunity into instant slums threatening to pull entire neighborhoods down with them.
And perhaps the worst example of all was at 576 Grant Street. Police were responding to transients and drug users breaking into the house at least twice a week. Holes had been punched in walls to steal copper wiring. Graffiti was throughout the home. Human waste was in some parts of the house as was rubbish from squatters. They even were tearing apart built-in shelves for firewood.
Neighbors were in fear of what might happen.
But then a man of faith stepped forward.
A few called him reckless or just plain crazy.
Pastor Mike Dillman saw hope where others saw nothing but despair.
He had faith not just in God and country but capitalism and the human spirit.
Dillman saw value where people saw evil.
So Dillman did something that hardly anyone else dared to do. He bought a foreclosed house, or more precisely, he convinced his congregation at the Place of Refuge to buy a house with the idea of fixing it up and selling it with the profit going to help fund Manteca Christian School and church missions.
And the house he picked was the one that had been dubbed the Poster Child of the Manteca Foreclosure mess - 576 Grant St.
Critics blasted the move as nothing short of economic blasphemy. A letter writer to the Bulletin contended Dillman was leading his congregation in a manner that was nothing short of criminal as it was akin to burning $160,000.
Dillman and the congregation didn’t even flinch.
The congregation then known as First Assembly of God bought the house from the German bank that ended up with the loan. They fixed the house and then hosted a block party celebrating “Manteca’s Extreme Makeover.” The home sold within three months in perfect timing with the start of a buyers stampede that saw 1,165 existing homes sell in 2008. The church ended up earning a tidy sum and residents in the 500 block of Grant Street got their neighborhood back.
The vibrant lesson of faith and sound thinking that Dillman and the Place of Refuge congregation provided then still applies today.
The economic darkness hasn’t completely retreated. We’ve got a way to go.
There is a constant need to evaluate where you are going in life and to look beyond the despair of the moment. Making decisions with a strong dose of common sense grounded in faith whether it is in yourself, God, or secular concerns such as housing is the best way to forge the fear that a crisis unleashes.
Keeping your head instead of being swayed by the onslaught of “Chicken Little” rhetoric reinforced by the 24-hour gloom and doom cycle perfected by cable TV and various websites can do wonders.
It also helps a lot, as Dillman pointed out in an interview a year ago, to have faith in Biblical scripture.
His reference point is in the Book of Genesis where one can find the passage, “the evening and the morning were the first day.”
Dillman believes that the economic downturn has done a lot of good in addition to damage. He has pointed out it has gotten people to put things in perspective and to place less emphasis on the things that don’t matter as much in life such as having the biggest house one can leverage.
“The light begins in the darkness,” Dillman noted.
It is something to keep in mind as 2010 draws to a close and a new year approaches.
It was January 2008. There was a sense of foreboding. Fear was growing and so was the lawlessness.
To some, Manteca was starting to seem like a bad remake of “Escape from New York City.” Enraged borrowers evicted from homes were leaving them thoroughly trashed. Some sledge-hammered bath tubs. Others ripped out sinks. More than a couple poured concrete down water drains. Carpets were deliberately ruined. Holes were punched into walls. Abandoned McMansions were turned into flop houses. Police were called out almost daily to chase transients, drug users, and even under-age kids gathering for parties from homes that once sold for $600,000.
Plunging prices, skyrocketing inventory, and a dearth of buyers seemed to more than a few to signal an approaching collapse. The American Dream - in short - was going on the auction block to get hammered but on the way the symbol of prosperity was being transformed by anger and opportunity into instant slums threatening to pull entire neighborhoods down with them.
And perhaps the worst example of all was at 576 Grant Street. Police were responding to transients and drug users breaking into the house at least twice a week. Holes had been punched in walls to steal copper wiring. Graffiti was throughout the home. Human waste was in some parts of the house as was rubbish from squatters. They even were tearing apart built-in shelves for firewood.
Neighbors were in fear of what might happen.
But then a man of faith stepped forward.
A few called him reckless or just plain crazy.
Pastor Mike Dillman saw hope where others saw nothing but despair.
He had faith not just in God and country but capitalism and the human spirit.
Dillman saw value where people saw evil.
So Dillman did something that hardly anyone else dared to do. He bought a foreclosed house, or more precisely, he convinced his congregation at the Place of Refuge to buy a house with the idea of fixing it up and selling it with the profit going to help fund Manteca Christian School and church missions.
And the house he picked was the one that had been dubbed the Poster Child of the Manteca Foreclosure mess - 576 Grant St.
Critics blasted the move as nothing short of economic blasphemy. A letter writer to the Bulletin contended Dillman was leading his congregation in a manner that was nothing short of criminal as it was akin to burning $160,000.
Dillman and the congregation didn’t even flinch.
The congregation then known as First Assembly of God bought the house from the German bank that ended up with the loan. They fixed the house and then hosted a block party celebrating “Manteca’s Extreme Makeover.” The home sold within three months in perfect timing with the start of a buyers stampede that saw 1,165 existing homes sell in 2008. The church ended up earning a tidy sum and residents in the 500 block of Grant Street got their neighborhood back.
The vibrant lesson of faith and sound thinking that Dillman and the Place of Refuge congregation provided then still applies today.
The economic darkness hasn’t completely retreated. We’ve got a way to go.
There is a constant need to evaluate where you are going in life and to look beyond the despair of the moment. Making decisions with a strong dose of common sense grounded in faith whether it is in yourself, God, or secular concerns such as housing is the best way to forge the fear that a crisis unleashes.
Keeping your head instead of being swayed by the onslaught of “Chicken Little” rhetoric reinforced by the 24-hour gloom and doom cycle perfected by cable TV and various websites can do wonders.
It also helps a lot, as Dillman pointed out in an interview a year ago, to have faith in Biblical scripture.
His reference point is in the Book of Genesis where one can find the passage, “the evening and the morning were the first day.”
Dillman believes that the economic downturn has done a lot of good in addition to damage. He has pointed out it has gotten people to put things in perspective and to place less emphasis on the things that don’t matter as much in life such as having the biggest house one can leverage.
“The light begins in the darkness,” Dillman noted.
It is something to keep in mind as 2010 draws to a close and a new year approaches.
