By Mark Konkol
The Chicago Sun-Times
ROSELAND, Ill. — Last week, Adonis Bell was a “sad” hero.
Look at him smiling now.
The 11-year-old boy who saved his family but lost everything else in a fire that devoured his grandmother’s Roseland two-flat has a new home — and it’s free.
After reading the tale of Adonis’ heroics in the Chicago Sun-Times, Riverdale Mayor Deyon Dean tracked down the family and offered them a free house.
“That kid had real concern to get his family out, and he put himself in danger. Most kids get scared. He took it upon himself to be a lifesaver,” Dean said. “He loves his family and said, ‘I’m going to be the one to get them out.’ That touched me. I wanted to do something for them.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Adonis and his family met Dean on the front porch of their new home — a blue corner house at 139th and Wentworth.
When asked how he felt about his heroics last week, Adonis simply said, “sad.”
Now, his grandmother says the boy is “grinning all over himself.”
“I’m so proud to have a new house and so proud to have my family alive and here watching me on TV,” the boy said. “When I first saw the house, I thought I had everything again.”
Last Wednesday, they had nothing. At about 3:30 a.m. that day, heavy smoke filled the kitchen. Adonis was the only one who woke up in the house at 12011 S. Wentworth. He went to get his mother, carried a 2-year-old friend of the family to safety and ran back in the burning building to make sure his aunt got out alive, too.
All seven people lived, but their house and everything they owned went up in flames. Bell owned the Roseland home free-and-clear, but had let her homeowner’s insurance lapse before the fire.
Riverdale bought Bell’s family a new house for a dollar from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department. The plan was to renovate the place, sell it and get it back on the tax rolls. But Dean was so touched by Adonis’ actions that he decided donating the house could both help the boy’s family -- and his village.
“We want families in these homes. We want good families like the Bells in our community to help us grow,” he said. “This is the type of young man we want here to offer an example in our community . . . as far as doing positive things in his life.”
Adonis’ grandmother, Karen Bell, still can’t believe Dean actually offered her a house. She pinched herself.
“The nice young man [Dean] was saying, ‘Do you understand me? Do you hear me?’ ” Bell said. “I could hardly believe how God stepped in and blessed me through strangers giving clothing and offerings and things. It’s amazing. And now — a home.
“It’s all because of [the Sun-Times] for reporting this story. Thank you.”
The house isn’t much to look at now. In fact, it needs a complete face-lift.
But Cook County President Todd Stroger has pledged grant money to pay for renovating the Bell family’s new fixer-upper. Dean said he expects it should take about two months for repairs to be completed before the family can move in.
Karen Bell says she sees “great potential” for the little house.
And Adonis says he’s excited to make friends on his new tree-lined street.
“I’m glad to get out of the ghetto and live somewhere with peace and quiet where we can sleep peacefully and everything,” he said. “I won’t have to get a ride to school and everything. Now I can just walk straight down the street and go straight into school.”
There will be, however, some adjustment to living in the suburbs — like getting used to having a new mayor.
“I want to thank Mayor Daley, I mean Mayor Dean, yeah, Mayor Dean, for this house and for clothes and for shoes,” Adonis said, laughing at his mistake. “I want to thank him for all he’s done for us.”
Many Sun-Times readers have asked about donating to the Bell family.
Clothes and other items can be sent or dropped off in care of the Bell Family at 18210 Orleans Dr., Hazel Crest, Ill. 60429. The Bells can be reached directly at guilianotravel@msn.com
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