Nadine Stephens starts her busy day early. At 75, she gets up at 6 every morning to prepare her kitchen, where she cooks pickles, peppers, and other fresh produce to sell at the Miller farmers market every Sunday. Her garden is filled with juicy, chemical-free tomatoes, turnip greens, spices, herbs, squash, cucumbers, and strawberries, all used to make her jams, jellies, and pickled jars.
Aside from her entrepreneurial green thumb, the Gary homeowner sells her canned jars out of a serious need: to raise enough money to cut down dead, looming trees over her home.
“I need the help,” she said. “There’s no way around it.”
Standing in her front yard, Stephens, known to everyone as “Nana,” gestures to the 70-foot-tall trees that cast long shadows over her home. Once a source of beauty and tranquility, these behemoths now threaten to bring disaster to the place she has called home for a half-century.
Two months ago, her homeowners insurance was revoked, leaving her home unprotected. The insurance company deemed the dead and leaning trees too much of a liability and refused to reinsure the property until the trees are removed. Stephens has five trees that need to be cut down, and she said each tree will cost roughly $4,000 to remove.
Now, with no homeowners insurance and towering trees looming over her home, she risks losing everything if one comes crashing down.
In response to these exorbitant expenses, Stephens’ granddaughter recently set up a GoFundMe. Family members, friends, and community members have rallied around her, chipping in the best they can to assist her in her crisis.
“I had to beg for help,” Stephens said. “I’m not trying to cause a problem, I’m just trying to get the trees cut down around my house so that I can live. I don’t want to live in a nursing home.”
Stephens also battles several health conditions. A stroke nearly 20 years ago left her unable to feel the right side of her body, but she forces herself to stay active to retain her mobility.
“Before, I was a runner and a dancer, I was very mobile,” she told Capital B Gary. “Now, even bending over is a problem.”
Despite her disability, she has used the $2,000 donated so far from the GoFundMe to cut off branches of a few trees herself to the best of her ability, but she still has thousands of dollars to go to achieve her goal of $20,000. Determined to beat the odds, she says a can-do attitude and determination, goes a long way towards solving her problem.
“It’s about how you look at it; it’s not a problem, it’s an opportunity to fix something,” she said.
Stephens has been in her Glen Park home for nearly 50 years. As one of the first Black families in the neighborhood, she says, she chose her land, and this neighborhood specifically, because of the trees.
“When I saw the trees in this yard, they stole my heart,” she said. “When I was in my backyard, I was in heaven. I could pretend like I was home.”
But now, those same trees pose a threat to her home. The uncertainty of when — or if — the trees will fall has robbed her of the peace she once found in her cherished home and outdoor oasis.
The towering trees — old, decaying and heavy — have been there longer than she has, when she moved there 50 years ago. While pointing to two empty white chairs under her towering Magnolia tree in her front yard, she says it’s impossible to sit there any longer, because branches keep falling from the looming canopy.
Still, she says it’s “disheartening” to see her beloved trees cut down: “They feel like missing limbs.”
With extreme winds and storm conditions here, they still pose a serious threat. If one of the trees were to fall down, Stephens would be left with nothing.
“I’ve lived here this long, and I don’t remember the wind howling this strong,” she said. “It’s unbelievable. They’re saying the trees are already leaning this season, and I need to work on getting these trees cut down.”
Stephens has turned to multiple outlets for assistance, but says she has received “the same, old same old” lip service, without receiving any financial help.
“You know, it makes me feel just insignificant. I lived here all this time. I pay taxes here all this time, and I can’t get any consideration. They just told me we don’t do that anymore.”
Stephens said the problem reflects a larger issue of inadequate resources and a lack of city proactivity. She believes the system has failed her on multiple levels.
Stephens said she attempted to apply for the city’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), a federal program that distributes millions to state and local governments to address infrastructure and economic development needs. CDBG funds are often used for housing rehabilitation, code enforcement, and homeowner assistance.
The city of Gary’s CDBG webpage highlights its housing, senior, and emergency repair programs, which offer thousands of dollars in grants to qualified residents. Data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shows the agency awarded Gary $3.4 million in grants.
In June 2024, Capital B Gary called the city’s Department of Community Development and was told that applications were not being accepted at this time because the program hadn’t begun yet, and to check back every three to four weeks.
“It’s not that the city is picking me out, it’s just how the city works. Everything is incredibly slow,” Stephens said.
Because insurance companies have revoked her coverage, Stephens turned to Centier Bank to apply for a grant for senior citizens in Gary. After months of waiting, a bank representative finally informed her that she would receive an update on her loan application next week.
“I have a disability, you’re supposed to be helping me maintain a quality of life,” she said
Kathy Long, Stephens’ friend and fellow vendor at the Miller farmers market, said that it’s “ridiculous” to see her friend struggle to find funds and support.
“She’s a wonderfully positive person,” she said. “I can’t imagine how tight a spot she’s in. I’ve seen those trees, I’ve been to her house, and that’s an incredible amount of work that needs to be done.
“It really just points to really failed governance from the state level all the way down to the local level,” Long said.
Carla Morgan, head of Gary’s law department, said the city and all Indiana municipalities are barred by state law from using public resources to perform work on private property.
“While City of Gary resources cannot be used to benefit or improve privately owned property, the mayor’s team regularly tries to find ways to help residents within the limits of the law,” she told Capital B Gary in an email.
Long said the lack of resources in Gary and Lake County to get her friend the help she needs is “tragic.”
“We are reduced to all of us coming together and donating $5, $25, $50, $100, and coming together to try and help this woman just stay in her house.”
In the meantime, Stephens looks for a way forward, trapped by the trees that now threaten her future. She said she doesn’t like pleading for assistance, but the situation grows more dire every day. Looking ahead, if she gets help, she hopes it will cascade to allow others in the neighborhood to get theirs, too.
“I just need help,” Stephens said. “And I’m not the only one.”