Steve
Biasi has been a resident of The Villages since 2001. A talented
artist, Steve moved here from his home in NYC just after the tragedy of
9-11 to work for the Disney animation studios. The plan was to
move to Orlando, but Disney decided to move their animation production
to California, so Steve moved to The Villages to help his parents whose
health was deteriorating.Steve set up his own business in The Villages as a home theater installation and servicing professional and in short order became very well-known for his quality work, jovial attitude, quick wit and beaming personality. Steve likes to get to know his clients and soon realized that many people were in pretty rough financial shape. He would often modify his fees to help them out. It was typical for Steve to rush over when someone had a question and leave without accepting payment. Yet, even though he often undervalued his work, he still made enough to pay the bills and get out to the local Karaoke places to sing.
Steve never sang before coming to Florida, but his father had been a performer on TV and his mother, Irene Biasi, had become quite a popular singer in The Villages gaining a reputation as the Sophie Tucker of The Villages. She even sang at Katie Belles back in the day. Steve put his first toe in the water at one of the local Karaoke shows and discovered he had a hidden talent for singing.
Steve's love of music led him to attend almost every local performer's shows and over the years he became friends with several of the top entertainers in The Villages.
Unfortunately, several years ago, Steve began to develop arthritis in his hips and back and mobility began to become an issue. Being uninsured and unable to afford hip replacement surgery, Steve simply kept working through the pain, happily servicing people's home theater systems.
When the COVID pandemic hit and shut everything down, Steve's business was effectively destroyed. No longer could he go to people's homes so he sat at home and his arthritis worsened, his hips and back degenerated and he soon found himself relegated to a wheelchair.
When Steve turned 65 last summer, he became eligible for Medicare benefits and he could finally get the surgery he needed. Unfortuantely, in the interim, he had developed Cellulites and Lymph edema. With the edema in his legs, the doctors refused to do any surgery that could kill him. Steve spent most of 2020 in and out of the hospital and working to get the edema under control and now he is hoping that he can have his surgeries this summer.
Sadly, while most of his medical bills are now being covered, past bills and debts are seriously in the red. With close to a million dollars of medical debt and roughly $50,000 in regular household debt, Steve almost lost his home. But for the intervention of some dear friends he would be homeless and he's in serious need of our help.
