Community Corner

Foxborough Family Awaiting Approval on Loan to Buy House Back; Avoid Eviction

Thanks to overwhelming community support, Foxborough residents John and Julie Hazeldine may soon own their Spring Street home once again.

Since losing their house to foreclosure and having it auctioned off to a bank in September of last year, John and Julie Hazeldine have been working to buy back their 27 Spring St. home that John has lived in for over 60 years and his grandparents built in 1926.

Having suffered two strokes in 2008 and undergoing hip replacement last year, John walks with a limp in his right leg and his right arm is paralyzed. Out of work, he and his wife could not afford the house payments on Julie's salary alone.

Word spread quickly about the Hazeldine's plight from Foxborough to around the world and donations began pouring in, with over $42,000 raised as of last week.

Find out what's happening in Foxboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Good news for the Hazeldines and all of their supporters is the Foxborough family has been pre-approved by Boston Community Capital for a loan of about $117,000 to buy their house back.

“Nothing has been finalized," John said. "We went in Monday and we had their attorney with us. We did some paperwork and the attorney called us last night and asked us what we wanted to do. It’s kind of looking good. It’s just a matter of time. We’re trying to get it done before the 15th.”

Find out what's happening in Foxboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Friday, March 15th is the deadline that Direct Federal Credit Union of Needham, who currently owns the Spring Street property, has given the Hazeldines to move out of their Foxborough home.

The deadline has been extended multiple times after Attorney General Martha Coakley's office stepped in and brokered an agreement between the Hazeldines and the bank.

“It’s just been a long, ongoing painful process,” John said. “There’s been a lot of praying going on in this house in the past few years.”

The support they've seen from others in the community - and around the world - has helped guide them thus far.

“It’s blowing me and my wife away. It’s unbelievable," he said.

As of last week the Hazeldines have received donations from 296 people totalling $42,486, including a former Foxborough classmate who lives in Africa, who donated $2,000 and Vietnam veteran Bill Melvin, of Mansfield, who donated $4,000.

“We don’t know each other,” John said of Melvin. “I’d like to meet him though.”

With the prospect of owning their home once again on the horizon, John is beginning to shift his focus on the crumbling roof of the house.

"We’ve got a lot of leaks and it’s been going on since I had my stroke. I can’t get up there anymore to do it,” he said.

John said he does not think the loan will include the cost of the roof but they are trying to work it in. He estimates replacing the roof would cost about $10,000.

The original "horsehair" plaster in the house has deteriorated and water has eaten away at the ceilings of at least two rooms in the house where it now drips from the gaping holes onto the floor when it rains.

“It does it if it rains real hard. There’s a couple of ceilings that need to be replaced,” John said.

All the Hazeldines can do now is wait to hear if they've been approved for the loan in advance of the March 15 deadline.

As for the hundreds of those who have supported the Hazeldines throughout their time of need, John said, “It shows how much a community can pull together. I don't know where to begin to start thanking people. Maybe get a billboard."

For now, he'll start through local media.

Donations to the Hazeldine family are being taken by the Friends of Foxboro Seniors. To make a donation, make checks payable to the Friends of Foxboro Seniors, P.O. Box 116, Foxboro, MA 02035. Please note on or with the Check that it is for the John and Julie Hazeldine Fund.


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