By Tia Lyons
El Dorado News Times Staff Writer
When Geren Willis was house-hunting 19 years ago, a cozy, understated property on the east side of town caught his eye.
"I just liked it because it was a small, brick house that seemed to be affordable and I liked how quiet the neighborhood was," Willis recalled.
With help from his mother, the late Erma L. Willis, Geren settled into the three-bedroom, two-bath, single-family house and for nearly two decades, he has mostly enjoyed life in the Marrable Hill neighborhood.
Now, before the end of the week, the 56-year-old may have to move from the house that he has turned into a home.
Critical health issues have afflicted Geren for the past six years and his ability to consistently pay his mortgage.
The ordeal began with a hernia-repair surgery in 2016.
"That surgery went awry and my health started to fail every year after that," Geren explained.
In the ensuing years, a series of health crises have led to extended stays in hospitals, nursing homes and health and rehabilitation facilities in south and central Arkansas.
Complications from the initial hernia-repair surgery required corrective surgeries, which were performed at the University of Arkansas of Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
"I've never been for a hospital stay that was less than seven months," Geren said.
"I've had to go to four different hospitals and four different times, they've called my family and told them that I wasn't going to make it through the night," he continued, his voice quivering with emotion.
Bouts with pneumonia, a near-fatal infection, blood transfusions and severe swelling of the abdomen that causes a 60-pound bulge are some of the ongoing issues that Geren has had to battle over the past six years.
"My life will never be the same, the quality of my life. It's affected my mobility and I've been told to go to hospice or that I will have to live the rest of my life in a nursing home," he said.
In December 2020, another medical emergency sent Geren to the hospital. Brain swelling forced doctors to place him in a medically-induced coma for five weeks.
He remained hospitalized several more weeks after awakening from the coma and was later transferred to a health and rehabilitation facility.
Geren said he has no memory of having been rushed to the hospital and only recalls waking up and learning that he had been fitted with a breathing tube that had been inserted due to a tracheotomy, rendering him unable to talk.
He was discharged from the health and rehabilitation facility and returned home last April.
Two months later, he received devastating news regarding his house.
Foreclosure
Wells Fargo was the initial mortgage-holder of Geren's house and for 13 years, he dutifully paid the monthly note.
No stranger to hard work, Geren, who holds a degree in business administration from Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock, has long juggled multiple jobs and entrepreneurial pursuits to create various streams of income.
Over the years, the 56-year-old has held down retail, hotel and restaurant management jobs while owning and operating a small, neighborhood corner store; making and selling homemade candles, lotions and body oils; selling clothes, sometimes out of the trunk of his car; music/event DJing; and photography/videography.
Geren's declining health and limited mobility have forced him to sideline those gigs.
He now lives on a fixed income with Social Security Disability benefits of less than $750 per month.
Wells Fargo, Geren said, was well aware of his medical issues and drastic reduction in income and money-making potential.
"They would work with me when I would get behind on payments. They worked with me through their home retention department because they wanted to keep me in my house," Geren explained.
That all changed last year.
Unbeknownst to Geren, the assistance provided by Wells Fargo was no longer available to him because his home loan had been sold to another mortgage company.
Geren said he learned of the sale in June 2021 after family members delivered piles of mail that had been sent to his house while he was in the hospital.
Not only did another company -- Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC -- own the mortgage, the company had already begun the foreclosure process and listed Geren's house for sale due to nonpayment.
"The sale happened in April (2021) but I guess, even if they had called me, I couldn't communicate at the time because I was still in the nursing home and I had the (breathing tube)," Geren said.
Efforts to explain the situation to Carrington and negotiate a payment plan to reconcile the delinquent balance have been futile, Geren said, adding that he was initially given a deadline of March 31 to pay $2,000 or vacate the premises.
The amount has since ballooned to $7,500.
"It's all been through correspondence. There has been no explanation about why the number keeps going up," he said, adding, "I guess it's interest."
"Seven months ago, they told me it would take roughly $1,900 to straighten it out. A couple of months later, the amount went to either $3,000 or $4,000 to straighten it out, and then, around a month ago, they said it would take $7,500," Geren explained further.
Complicating matters is the name on the account of the loan.
"To help me, my mama paid the down payment and put the house in her name," Geren shared.
While grieving his mother's death in July 2015, Geren said it did not immediately occur to him to check with Wells Fargo about amending the mortgage agreement to add his name to the account.
Barely six months later, Geren himself fell ill.
"They (Carrington) refuse to work with me. They keep saying, 'We need to speak to Erma Willis,' even though I've told them that she's dead," he said.
"They probably would accept a death certificate but I didn't have anyone to help me get the paperwork together," he said. "At first they were talking to me, but now, they've just shut down."
Geren has explored several options to help raise the cash that is needed to remain in his house.
He took a calculated risk last August and spent most of his monthly disability benefits to purchase merchandise for an online clothing business.
"I get $735 a month and I took $700 to buy some things to sell online so that I could make some money and I used $35 to buy groceries for the month," he said.
Social media live streams with family and friends volunteering to model some of the merchandise has helped with some sales and more recently, Geren began selling his furniture and other items from his house.
GoFundMe
Admittedly proud, Geren said it took some doing, but he finally began reaching out to people in the community to seek help with his plight after learning a month ago that he would need $7,500 to satisfy the delinquent balance with Carrington.
City officials, local realtors, property owners and community leaders have all been on his contact list.
One of those people is Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer, who recently shared Geren's story during a Facebook live stream and made a donation to help out.
"A lot of people told me to set up a GoFundMe," Geren said, referring to the crowdfunding platform that allows users to raise money for life events, hardships and challenges, including illnesses and accidents.
"I didn't want to do that because it felt like I was begging and I wanted to maintain some degree of dignity," he continued. "It had already taken me a long time to even tell anybody what was going on because my pride wouldn't let me."
Earlier this month, Geren acquiesced to the advice he had received and opened up a GoFundMe account.
He kicked off the campaign with his own donation of $40 and while donations began rolling in early on, they have plateaued.
As of Saturday, he had met $778 of his $7,500 goal on GoFundMe.
'God's got me'
Whether he is allowed to remain in his house or has to relocate, Geren said he has made peace with the outcome of the situation.
"I'm just tired of fighting. This has caused me so much stress," he said. "There have been so many people who have helped me. There are some really good people in this city. I've really been blessed."
Friends, family and caretakers assist Geren with his daily-living activities and though it is difficult to move, he relies on a walker to get around as best as he can.
As Geren spoke with a News-Times reporter on a recent chilly morning, he gazed contemplatively out of the front, glass screen door of his house on Charles Street.
"I know God has my back. God's got me," he said.
In response to words of encouragement from a visitor, Geren said, "You're right. It's going to work out the way it's supposed to. You just said a word."
To donate to Geren's GoFundMe campaign, visit www.gofundme.com and search "Geren Willis" or the title of the page, "Home went into foreclosure due to illness."
A link to the GoFundMe account can also be found on Geren's Facebook page.
Geren said he as also received a few donations on his Cash App account, $gerenwillis34.
For more information, call Geren at 870-677-5697.