communiversity magazine

PLEASE HELP SAVE KOKOPELLI WORKSHOP PROJECT            Donate through pay pal

Just Seven months ago, a group of volunteers formed the Kokopelli Board of Directors and gave birth to a wonderful non-profit community benefit project.

The Kokopelli Community Workshop Project was created to open an educational workshop center in Carlsbad California.

A large adobe complex, located on a acre of land on Adams Street in old Carlsbad was donated the project, by 84-year old longtime Carlsbad homeowner, Betty Bryan, (Betty is guaranteed lifetime occupancy by the project, in private rooms located adjacent to the main building)

The original eight Kokopelli board members included; two college teachers, (one teaches copy writing and one teaches finance) an attorney, and her legal assistant, an editor, a journalist, a computer design expert, and a well known holistic health professional, who works successfully with cancer patients.

You may have heard of the Kokopelli project; as we have held public fundraisers.

Kokopelli Community Workshop Corporation is lucky to have more than 20, dedicated hard-working volunteers.

Our volunteers have committed hundreds of hours of time, money and resources to the Kokopelli Workshop Project.

Kokopelli funding director, Andrea Millon, (has a degree in grant writing and teaches finance), has submitted over thirty grant proposals on their behalf for assorted government programs and also to private foundations.

For the past eight months the board of directors has worked with dedicated Kokopelli volunteers; planning fundraisers, collecting books for our meditation center, and contributed many nights and week-ends, to remodeling the large adobe structure located on the proposed site of the center, an acre of land located adjacent to St.Patrick's Church in Carlsbad.

Volunteers have also been slowly renovating the inside of the adobe buildings as we are able to raise funds.

Over the last months we are proud to have accomplished the following;

We have landscaped the grounds and rented a back-hoe and replaced the leach-lines, which run directly under our planned community aquaponic organic farm project located directly behind the adobe structure.

THE CURRENT CRISES ;
Last July an investor from Oceanside; a man named Mr. Rick Ardissoni, was introduced to Kokopelli board of directors as someone who was interested in helping the Kokopelli Community Workshop Project. Rick Ardissoni was introduced to our project as an investor who could potentially advance the needed funds for our project to keep rolling, as long as he could be repaid at the end of January 2008 when our project funding would begin to become available.

Mr. Ardissoni joined Kokopelli board of directors, attended the meetings and seemed to show benevolent interest in our project.
A special meeting the Kokopelli Finance Committee was convened and we voted to execute a $600,000 "line of credit" trust deed to be recorded against Betty Bryan's property, naming Mr. Rock Ardissoni as beneficiary.

On October 10, 2007 the trust deed was recorded at the San Diego County Recorder’s office securing Mr. Ardissoni’s interests and to enable our "line of credit.”

We were led to believe that this security would enable Mr. Ardissoni to provide sufficient funds to keep our project rolling. In this way we hoped to keep Kokopelli Center’s mortgage paid and be able to continue our remodeling work until our grant money could begin to benefit the Kokopelli project at the end of January 2008.

At the end of November 2007, after Mr. Ardissoni had advanced the project a grand total $34,000, when he suddenly refused to attend board meetings and apparently lost all interest in the Kokopelli project.

Mr. Ardissoni immediately refused to advance the project any further funds.

Alarmed we scrambled to find another investor, because our financial director warned us that the property must be maintained in good standing, in order qualify any potential grants.

Om December of 2007, we were thrilled to locate a benefactor for the project who was willing to step into Mr. Ardissoni’s position.

Early in December, the alternative investor, a genuine benefactor, offered us $100,000 in private money so that we might repay Mr. Ardissoni $ 44,000 from a new loan. (This amount included $10,000 interest on the original investment of $34,000)

Kokopelli project planned to use the balance of the new loan funds to reinstate our mortgage, and then make timely mortgage payments until our grant funding and other fundraising projects could make additional funds available.

Our new investor, let us know that Mr. Ardissoni's existing $600,000 trust deed would need to be re-conveyed as a funding condition. Then a new trust deed for a lower amount ($120,000) could be issued to the new investor, which would allow Mr. Ardissoni to be reimbursed $44,000 from the closing of the new loan escrow.

When Mr. Ardissoni was informed that he could be immediately repaid, much to our dismay, he let Kokopelli Finance Committee know that he was not interested in being repaid only $44,000, and furthermore that all future communication must be to his attorney

(Mr.James Maynard, of Carlsbad.)

Attorney James Maynard contacted us only once to communicate that his client was "not inclined' to re-convey the $600,000 trust deed. Now attorney James Maynard does not seem to answer his office phone or bother to return our calls.
James Maynard office number was given as (760) 740 0515, but he does not seem to be there to answer the phone, or even be listed in the telephone book. His fax number was given as (760) 433 1351, but he never responds to faxes either.

Mr. Ardissoni’s refusal to re-convey our equity has now additionally prevented Betty Bryan from qualifying for a federally guaranteed FHA refinance loan that would have resulted in a much lower more affordable mortgage payment.

Betty Bryan qualified for this special FHA government program as one of approximately 2.2 million homeowners who borrowed against their homes between 1998 and 2006 and most have a subprime mortgage. Many of these borrowers now face the loss of their homes to foreclosure. Earlier this year, 80% of subprime home loans which had fixed rates initially, became adjustable. That is, the interest rates jumped higher on either the 25 month or the 37th month. This jump in the monthly payment caused "payment shock" for the affected homeowners. Many of the loan payments increased by about 40%. Unable to make these new higher payments, these homeowners face foreclosure.

As of January 2008 Betty Bryan's home and property is recorded as being in foreclosure. Due to her to stolen equity this 84-year old, 50 year resident of Carlsbad no longer qualifies for a loan, and may soon be made homeless.

Kokopelli has futilely tried to explain to Mr. Ardissoni that if he allows the property to go into a mortgage default Kokopelli project would not qualify for any of the grants everyone worked so hard to submit.

In response, Mr. Ardissoni said he would just have to protect his interests and referred us to an attorney James Maynard who does not return any of our calls.

Kokopelli Community Workshop project has now retained the service of an attorney, who is a specialist in fighting predatory lending.

Attorney Nathan Fransen, www.fransenandmolinaro.com/

We are very fortunate that Mr. Fransen has taken our case on contingency basis,
BUT...... unless we can pay the court costs and get the property out of default, senior Betty Bryan stands to become homeless in a couple of months, and a valuable community project; Kokopelli Community Workshop will to be lost to these loan predator's tricks.

SO PLEASE HELP US SAVE BETTY BRYAN'S HOME AND OUR COMMUNITY WORKSHOP PROJECT!

We want you to know that any help you can give, will make a huge difference.

Please feel free to call and FAX Mr. Maynard and tell him what you think!

Please make Betty a donation, even if all you can only spare a dollar or two. If everyone who reads this email sends Betty just $5.00 we will be able to save her home.

In any case thanks for reading all about this crises!

We must create community awareness of these predatory tactics to often used to steal peoples homes and real estate.

Click here ---->       Donate through pay pal   <---- Click here

or you can just mail your donation check to

BETTY BRYAN
& Write at the top;
Donation to, Kokopelli Defense Fund

please send to all donations by mail to;
Betty Bryan
PO box 1410
Carlsbad Ca 92018