‘Warrior Man’ gets some help from Curry to save iconic house
Warriors star shared GoFundMe info on Instagram and helped raise funds for fan
A year now after the Warriors moved to San Francisco, Steph Curry is staying connected to the Oakland community, this time working to protect a fan’s iconic house from foreclosure.
Lloyd Canamore calls himself the “Warrior Man.” His house is painted Warriors blue and yellow, plastered with flags and banners shouting out his pride in the team.
But that might change soon if Canamore can’t come up with $350,000. The homeowner is at risk of losing the “Warriors House,” according to a GoFundMe page created by a neighbor to save the house.
Before Canamore’s mother, Clemmie, died
last year, she took out a reverse mortgage to borrow against the house, under advice of a former caretaker.
The bank in charge of the loan is now demanding Canamore turn over the house if he can’t pay the sum. Canamore said Thursday that he’s down to the final days of being able to pay.
On Thursday morning, Curry shared the GoFundMe on his Instagram Story, along with a video of him and Christian rapper Bizzle dancing in front of the house during the filming of a music video.
“I was praying that Steph Curry would find out,” Canamore said. “I’ve been trying for the last five months for someone to get in touch with Steph Curry, but I thought ain’t no way it was going to happen.”
Shortly after Curry’s post, an anonymous donor gave $10,000 in support.
The GoFundMe page says that Canamore and his mother lived in the house since she bought it 50 years ago, and that he now lives there alone on a fixed disability income.
Meanwhile, the lender has been pressing him.
“They tried to out-slick me like they out-slicked my mama,” Canamore said.
Reverse mortgage lenders often offer their product to the elderly and those with lower incomes, including Black homeowners. The mortgages can have high interest rates and hidden fees that sometimes force people out of their homes.
KTVU reports that Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, a tenants’ rights organization taking aim at gentrification in Oakland, is working with Canamore to try to protect his house if the fundraising goal isn’t met.
When Curry shared the GoFundMe, it had raised $109,169 for Canamore’s cause in just a day. By Friday morning, it had raised more than $180,000 to help him keep the house.
Canamore said his neighbor and friend Ali Roth, who set up the GoFundMe page, has made him feel like a valued member of the community as gentrification takes over the block.
“She’s the one who helped me out, made me know I got some help in this world,” Canamore said of Roth.
Curry and the Warriors have been intentional to remain involved in Oakland since the team moved its operations across the bay.
Early on in the coronavirus pandemic, Curry and his wife, Ayesha, pledged to pay for meals for kids in the Oakland Unified School District, asking Warriors fans to join them in doing so.
This month, the Currys announced a plan to continue helping to feed families in the district.
Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and some Warriors teammates also joined an Oakland march last month in opposition to police brutality against Black people.