Single Mom's Future Home Covered in Graffiti

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A single working mother of two autistic boys was getting ready to close on her Argyle Forest home, when contractors discovered hateful graffiti scribbled across the sides.

Autumn Beardsley faces a lot of challenges, raising two autistic sons and working a full-time job; but she's close to achieving her dreams of owning her own home. 

"I saved up and this was going to be our Christmas present for my children," Beardsley said.

Through the City of Jacksonville's Neighborhood Stabilization Program, or NSP, Beardsley received assistance on the down-payment for a three-bedroom home in the Candlewood neighborhood of Argyle Forest.

The NSP, fueled by $26 million in federal money, targets several ZIP codes around Jacksonville where foreclosures are high, and gives stimulus funds to non-profit and private developers to turn the homes around and put them back on the taxroll.

At the same time, qualifying low-income families like the Beardsleys receive some help affording the down-payment for the home.  The home is then sold at the appraised value, so neighborhood property values remain stable.

Autumn Beardsley contacted the program in the fall, and has been watching contractors renovate the home on Coralberry Lane ever since.

"I'm not being given the home. I have made a down-payment. I will pay monthly payments. I had to qualify with my credit. There was only down-payment assistance," Beardsley said of the conditions.

The NSP requires receiving families to stay in their new homes for 15 years, which is fine with Beardsley.  She hopes to close in time for Christmas, and continue to raise her special-needs children there for years to come.

Directors with the NSP program and the Riverside Avondale Development Organization say Beardsley is a shining candidate for the program: the single mom works full-time for New Heights of Northeast Florida, providing respite care for disabled children and adults. 

Last year, New Heights honored Beardsley as 'Employee of the Year.'

But when Autumn went to check on her home Monday, she found a discouraging sight: graffiti sprayed across windows, doors, walls and the sidewalk. 

"All the air went out of me. I couldn't breathe for a second. I thought, someone has destroyed my home," Beardsley said.

She says the words written insinuate that she does not deserve the home.

"It says, 'Us taxpayers are tired of helping. On the other wall it says, 'You don't deserve this. Work.' Which I do," Beardsley said.

Police say the criminal mischief may have happened early Monday morning.  So far, no arrests have been made.

"This is ignorance, and hatred. It was done by someone who does not have all the information," Beardsley said.

The Riverside Avondale Development Organization director says the vandalism will be fixed; the cost is being absorbed by insurance, the non-profit, and the contractor who will have to repair the damage.

Though Beardsley says she does not know who vandalized the house, she is disappointed that someone's personal feelings ended up costing the people working to improve the community. 

She's not deterred from living in the neighborhood, but says she is dismayed she was targeted.

"To single out someone like me because I am using a program that [the perpetrator] finds offensive or thinks is taking money from [the public]. That's the wrong way to go. It's not garnering any support. It just makes it longer until we can move in to our home," Beardsley said.

Officials with the Neighborhood Stabilization Program say Jacksonville's program is one of the best run in the country.  They encourage anyone looking for information to visit the website. 

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