Where's the help for Chinese drywall?

SUN CITY CENTER - Milly Ballards spent years saving her money, and finally had enough to buy her dream home.

She moved in April 2008, but by July 2009, she made a heart wrenching decision.

"I made the decision on my own, to move out."

For months, she had been sick. She spent part of her time in Massachusetts with her son. But when she came back home, she felt sick.

"When I came home from up North, I had cold symptoms and headaches and the fatigue, I could hardly function. And then when I went back to Massachusetts, I had no problem," she said.

She finally realized it was her house.

And then the talk in the neighborhood was that many of the buildings were built with Chinese drywall.

When she made the decision to leave, she cried.

"It was difficult, because this has been my dream home. Scrimped and saved for years to accomplish this. And to come to realize I couldn't live here. And even if I wanted to sell it, I couldn't sell it," she said.

The drywall in question was imported from 2005 to 2007. A housing boom and two active hurricane seasons created a shortage of building supplies in the southern Unites States.

Six buildings, each housing four units, have tested for Chinese drywall in her neighborhood.

Roy Glaum, a member of the Chinese Drywall Coordination Group in Sun City Center said it has hit seniors even harder.

"All these people are in a situation where they're being told to leave their homes. And some because they're on a fixed income, can't."

State Representative Seth McKeel met with some of the residents on Monday. He had never been inside a home with the drywall, but from Milly's accounts, he was concerned.

"Hopefully there are other opportunities to work with these folks who are affected. It's a problem we can't get our arms around, who's responsible. Or how to fund the remediation."

He wanted to hear just how significant the problem is.

"What I'm learning is we need to do a better job from our federal partners, to try and determine how to approach this from an emergency management standpoint, or to deal with mitigation. And to be honest, I don't have those answers yet. That's why I'm here today," McKeel said.

Milly is spending an extra $1,000 a month to rent another place. She said she won't go back until a remedy is found.

"I just want to move back to my home," she said.