One kid’s courage and toughness, one family’s generosity

CEDAR RAPIDS - Eric and Shelley Jacobus called an emergency family meeting in the spring of 2014.

All four of their children were required to attend and give their input. This was a major deal.

The Jacobuses were considering taking in another kid. Todd Gusta was a friend and classmate of their youngest son, Dalles, and was in a tough predicament, especially for a sophomore in high school.

A child of divorce, Gusta wasn't getting along with his mother, who was considering moving out of town, and hadn't really ever had a relationship with his father. He would float from family to family in the Cedar Rapids Kennedy district most of the time, looking for a place to hang out and sometimes sleep.

'He needed somewhere to call home,” Eric Jacobus said. 'A safe place to rest his head at night and get three meals a day.”

Eric and Shelley Jacobus wanted to provide that home, but only if Dalles, older brothers Derek and Devon and younger sister, Kamae, said OK. Devon was out of town in college, and Derek was headed there that coming fall, but they still got votes.

'My mom and dad sat our whole family down,” Dalles Jacobus said. 'The consensus was if anyone said no, they weren't going to do it. They just asked us ‘Does anyone have a problem if Todd moves in? It might be short term, it might be long term. If you have any problems with it, tell us now, and we'll figure something else out.'”

They didn't have to figure anything else out because everyone said yes.

'I felt I was in a tight spot,” Gusta said. 'Dalles and I were friends, we were close throughout and had common interests and stuff. Basically, his mom found out (about his situation) and said ‘Well, you are welcomed to stay here.' I knew that would help me stay to my roots, stay at Kennedy, where the education is great.”

Jacobus and Gusta have been in show choir together, wrestle, participate in track and field and are integral parts of a Kennedy football team that's 4-0 and ranked fourth in Class 4A. Jacobus is a starting two-way senior lineman, Gusta a starting linebacker.

The Cougars play Cedar Rapids Jefferson (3-1) in a biggie Friday night at Kingston Stadium. On the field, obviously, this thing has turned out to be a great deal.

Most importantly, it's been a great deal off the field.

'Being around the Jacobus family, they have really good morals, are very strong-hearted people,” Gusta said. 'They have big, open hearts, and I feel like I've caught on to that a lot ... They are my family. It's a great feeling knowing that there is always someone there.”

'He has been a pleasure to have in our house,” Shelley Jacobus said. 'We try to treat him just like all of our kids.”

The Jacobuses went to court to become Gusta's legal guardians, something Gusta's mother and father signed off on. Eric and Shelley provide for him financially, and he is on their insurance.

Gusta's mother has moved to Ottumwa, and Todd said they have no contact anymore. He is beginning to build a relationship with his father, who moved back to the area more than a year ago.

'That has helped all around because my dad and I are a lot closer now than we used to be,” Gusta said. 'He's there for me, takes me out to eat, asks me how I'm doing, which are things I didn't have when I was younger.”

Through Todd, Gusta's father declined comment for this story. Eric and Shelley Jacobus said they never have met either of Gusta's parents.

'I'm open enough to say that my mom is not a part of my life anymore,” Gusta said. 'I feel like that was a better choice for me because we started not to get along, and she had some issues with some other things in the family that weren't related to me. It just got to the point where it was affecting me in the wrong way. I had to just ditch it and move on with my life, which I think has benefitted me a lot.”

Gusta and Dalles Jacobus virtually are inseparable and call each other brothers. When everyone is home from college, the two share a bedroom.

They profess to have very similar 'outspoken” personalities.

'Freshman year, we were acquaintances, but sophomore year, he joined the football team, and we've been brothers since,” Dalles said. 'It's a great feeling to know we are helping him out. I wish it didn't have to happen, but he needed somebody. I always told him he was my bro, I had his back. I kept my word.”

Shelley Jacobus will wear three buttons at every Kennedy football game: one with a picture of Dalles, one with a picture of Kamae (a freshman who is a varsity team manager) and one of Gusta. She said she has noticed a change in Gusta in the year and a half he has lived with them.

A family that loves giving hugs and kisses, Gusta would recoil whenever that would happen at first. Now he is much more accepting of the affection.

'I think he has changed physically and emotionally,” she said. 'I hope we make a difference in his life, in his future. He has definitely added to our family.”

All six Jacobuses and their dog temporarily lived with another family in the Kennedy district when the floods of 2008 ruined their Palo home. They are part of what they say is a tight-knit group of kids and parents.

They were asked if helping Gusta might be a way to give back for the generosity they have received.

'This is not about paying it forward,” Eric Jacobus said. 'This is about doing what is right.”

They need no more thanks than seeing the young man he has become.

'Todd Gusta is one of the hardest working kids we have, will not accept failure,” Kennedy Coach Brian White said. 'He is a great kid and a huge asset to our football program.”

Gusta was asked what he hopes others learn from sharing his story.

'I would say I want people to know that whatever obstacles you have in front of you, you need to know you are going to get through them,” he said. 'It's just about how you mentally take it. If you take things the wrong way, you are going to get down on yourself and dig that hole even deeper. But if you keep fighting through it, you will end up in a good place.”

There's no doubt he's in a good place now.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com