Friends and strangers raise money for Belleville senior with disability who was evicted

Nolan Ferguson was headed to a blues festival at Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis last Friday afternoon when he asked his wife, Andrea, if they could make a slight detour.

The University City, Missouri, man had read a BND story about David Semrau, a 77-year-old Belleville resident with a cognitive disability who is homeless after being evicted from his house.

“I just couldn’t ignore that story,” said Ferguson, 52, a real-estate investor. “I feel like God actually spoke to me directly and told me that I should get involved in some way, shape or form.”

The Fergusons drove to the Town House Motel in Belleville, where Semrau had been staying. Nolan Ferguson walked into the modest lobby and paid $385 for an additional week’s lodging.

Ferguson said the motel clerk then led him to Semrau’s room, where he met the senior citizen and learned more about his plight.

“David spoke with me, and I prayed with both of them, and at that point, I thought, ‘I’m going to have to stick with this until there’s some kind of positive outcome,’” Ferguson said.

GoFundMe campaigns

On Saturday, Ferguson created a GoFundMe campaign called “Disabled Senior Homeless After Home Auctioned Off.” As of Thursday, he had raised $619 and paid for Semrau to stay another 11 days at the motel.

Ferguson initially didn’t know that Belleville residents Diane Burrelsman and Chuck Wood, who had been helping Semrau for six years as part of their own Christian outreach, were also planning a GoFundMe campaign called “Help David with Housing.” It went live on Monday.

Ferguson reached out to Burrelsman, and now they’re all working together to try and figure out how to solve Semrau’s housing dilemma.

“Nolan has come in and alleviated the pressure,” said Burrelsman, 49, a scheduler at John J. Cochran Veterans Hospital in St. Louis, noting that she and Wood — mostly Wood — had spent close to $10,000 on Semrau’s motel bills, back taxes, home improvements and other costs.

“Nolan has some good ideas. He paid the motel bill. He said he has also been led by his faith in God, and it really came at a good time.”

Burrelsman and others believe Semrau has autism. Semrau recalls getting mental-health treatment as a younger man, but he isn’t sure about his diagnosis. He’s divorced and estranged from two sons and other relatives.

Burrelsman listed a goal of $15,000 on her GoFundMe campaign. She hopes to get Semrau into a mobile home or possibly even buy back the small house on North Fourth Street that he lived in for 27 years.

Ferguson said he contacted Belleville’s department of health, housing and building and got permission for Semrau to stay at the Town House Motel longer than the consecutive 30-day city maximum for one motel, just so he doesn’t have to bounce around while they look for permanent housing.

Delinquent tax bills

Semrau’s road to eviction was long and complicated.

The Belleville native stopped paying property taxes on his house at 520 N. Fourth St. in 2015. The annual bill had quadrupled after he neglected to fill out a renewal form for his three exemptions.

Semrau also failed to respond to a request for information from the Social Security Administration, which stopped his payments for five years. Burrelsman said the Living Independently Now Center in Swansea helped get them reinstated. He receives about $850 a month.

St. Clair County eventually foreclosed on Semrau’s home and sold it for $10,300 at auction on Oct. 14, 2022. He didn’t heed notices from the new owner telling him to vacate, and she evicted him on May 31.

“They threw all my stuff out in the front yard,” Semrau told a reporter earlier this month. “I went back there to get my clothing, and it was laying by my fence, by my mailbox, by the street. They nailed the door shut.”

Semrau wandered the streets of Belleville, rode buses and slept at the bus station for about a week before Burrelsman and Wood found him and began putting him up in motels.

Kindness of strangers

Ferguson isn’t the only person who contacted Burrelsman after reading about Semrau’s problems.

Belleville hairstylist Patti Law asked if Burrelsman could stop by her salon, Hair on Main, to pick up a check for $200. Law said she isn’t one to contribute to GoFundMe campaigns.

“I’m a massive follower of Jesus Christ, and he lays things on my heart,” said Law, 71. “You can read stories about people who need help every day, but when I read David’s story, (Jesus) just laid it very heavy on my heart. That’s why I reached out to Diane.

“She is just an amazing person. She’s the hero in all this. (Burrelsman and Wood) have gone out of their way to help this man. They’ve tried so hard. Most people would help someone for a day or a week, and that’s it.”

Burrelsman said one of the reasons she didn’t create a GoFundMe campaign for Semrau earlier is that she’s not very savvy when it comes to Facebook and other social media.

On Monday, employees at O’Fallon Public Library showed her how to set up a campaign, cut and paste her copy and download a photo of Semrau.

Almost immediately, Burrelsman noticed that a woman named Kathy Mordini had donated $500 to the campaign. Mordini, 58, owns Avenue Realty Associates in Belleville.

“I make a living putting roofs over people’s heads, so I have a soft spot for people who don’t have homes,” she said in a phone interview. “I give back when I can. (Semrau’s) story really touched me.”

Independent streak

Semrau’s situation hit home for Ferguson, partly because his 3-year-old son, Gabriel, has tested on the autism spectrum and partly because his father has mild dementia but insists on living independently.

Early on, Semrau didn’t reach out to authorities for help with his Social Security or tax problems. More recently, he rejected the idea of moving into a senior-housing complex, likening it to a nursing home or mental-health facility that he couldn’t leave.

“I seriously believe that’s his issue,” Ferguson said. “He’s concerned about not having his freedom.”

Semrau is known for being stubborn and uncooperative at times, and that’s why Burrelsman was thinking a mobile home or small house might be better than an apartment complex. But she’s open to ideas and willing to keep checking on him as a friend.

Semrau has been told that he needs to take medication for hyperglycemia and high blood pressure, but so far he’s refused.

“He wants to stay in Belleville,” Burrelsman said. “He will not go to a nursing home, and I don’t think a homeless shelter is a good place for him. With assisted living, he’s not going to trust that it’s not a nursing home, and he may not abide by their medication rules.”

As of Friday morning, Burrelman had raised $750 for Semrau through her GoFundMe campaign. Ferguson’s donation total remained at $619.

Editor’s note: This story was corrected to state that employees at O’Fallon Public Library, not Belleville Public Library, helped Burrelsman set up a GoFundMe campaign.