Help a Courageous Mom in Need
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Welcome to LESLEYpalooza!
definition of LESLEYpalooza
(noun)
1. a month long "email-a-thon" to raise money for Lesley and her kids;
2. a "thank you" party for past and new donors on Sunday, April 2 (1-5pm) at Ridgewood's Park West Loft; and
3. a feeling you get when you've done something good for someone who really needs it.
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We, the friends of Lesley Ellis Linker, are seeking your help.
Lesley is a 46-year-old Ridgewood, NJ mother of young children who is unable to work due to advanced Multiple Sclerosis and who has been devastated by the breakdown of her family.
Lesley was diagnosed with MS at age 33, when she had almost no symptoms. She married and had two children, now 7 and 12. Over the past 6 years Lesley’s disease has progressed to where she is a prisoner in her own body. She can no longer walk or stand, or see well enough to read regular print. She is confined to a wheelchair.
Despite her hardships, Lesley has been able to co-parent her children consistently and lovingly. She oversees all aspects of the children’s upbringing including dinners together, homework help, bedtime stories and most importantly, Lesley comforts them during trying times and provides them with unconditional love at all times.
In January 2015, Lesley’s husband moved out of the family home.
Despite Medicare and Social Security disability payments, the costs associated with Lesley’s care have become staggering. Lesley’s around-the-clock home health aide alone costs approximately $6,000 per month, which is not covered by insurance, any governmental agency or other organization. Lesley, her soon-to-be ex-husband, her retired schoolteacher parents, her brother and her cousin are struggling to cover these costs. The financial and emotional strain on them is severe and cannot be sustained.
Just as important for the children – as they’ve witnessed their mother lose the ability to walk and as they’ve had to come to terms with their parents’ separation and protracted divorce – is the continuity of their public school, friends and neighbors. Yet Lesley and the children may not be able to afford to stay in their modest home in Ridgewood. An exhausting and often very upsetting over 2-year search for an even more modest wheelchair accessible apartment or other accommodation in Ridgewood and surrounding towns yielded nothing.
Through all of the heartbreak of recent years, Lesley has worked hard to maintain an optimistic outlook for her children, and is so grateful to be able to nurture and live with them…in their own home. With your support, we can work to alleviate Lesley’s outsized share of unfairness, sadness, humiliation and struggle. Monies raised in this campaign will go directly toward Lesley’s shelter and medical costs. Thank you.
For those of you who have contributed in the past – as well as for new donors – Lesley’s friends are thrilled to invite you to a “Thank you” party courtesy of the Park West Loft in Ridgewood, NJ, on April 2nd from 1-5 p.m. Please see our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Lesleypalooza-1828181980797340/.
Please note that donations will not be tax-deductible to the donor and that 10% of the proceeds will be going to the Tisch MS Research Center of New York.
Also, for those who prefer to write a check, please make it out to "Lesleypalooza LLC." You can mail it to Lesleypalooza LLC/ P.O. Box 373/ Ridgewood, NJ 07451-0373.
Thank you again.
definition of LESLEYpalooza
(noun)
1. a month long "email-a-thon" to raise money for Lesley and her kids;
2. a "thank you" party for past and new donors on Sunday, April 2 (1-5pm) at Ridgewood's Park West Loft; and
3. a feeling you get when you've done something good for someone who really needs it.
--------------------
We, the friends of Lesley Ellis Linker, are seeking your help.
Lesley is a 46-year-old Ridgewood, NJ mother of young children who is unable to work due to advanced Multiple Sclerosis and who has been devastated by the breakdown of her family.
Lesley was diagnosed with MS at age 33, when she had almost no symptoms. She married and had two children, now 7 and 12. Over the past 6 years Lesley’s disease has progressed to where she is a prisoner in her own body. She can no longer walk or stand, or see well enough to read regular print. She is confined to a wheelchair.
Despite her hardships, Lesley has been able to co-parent her children consistently and lovingly. She oversees all aspects of the children’s upbringing including dinners together, homework help, bedtime stories and most importantly, Lesley comforts them during trying times and provides them with unconditional love at all times.
In January 2015, Lesley’s husband moved out of the family home.
Despite Medicare and Social Security disability payments, the costs associated with Lesley’s care have become staggering. Lesley’s around-the-clock home health aide alone costs approximately $6,000 per month, which is not covered by insurance, any governmental agency or other organization. Lesley, her soon-to-be ex-husband, her retired schoolteacher parents, her brother and her cousin are struggling to cover these costs. The financial and emotional strain on them is severe and cannot be sustained.
Just as important for the children – as they’ve witnessed their mother lose the ability to walk and as they’ve had to come to terms with their parents’ separation and protracted divorce – is the continuity of their public school, friends and neighbors. Yet Lesley and the children may not be able to afford to stay in their modest home in Ridgewood. An exhausting and often very upsetting over 2-year search for an even more modest wheelchair accessible apartment or other accommodation in Ridgewood and surrounding towns yielded nothing.
Through all of the heartbreak of recent years, Lesley has worked hard to maintain an optimistic outlook for her children, and is so grateful to be able to nurture and live with them…in their own home. With your support, we can work to alleviate Lesley’s outsized share of unfairness, sadness, humiliation and struggle. Monies raised in this campaign will go directly toward Lesley’s shelter and medical costs. Thank you.
For those of you who have contributed in the past – as well as for new donors – Lesley’s friends are thrilled to invite you to a “Thank you” party courtesy of the Park West Loft in Ridgewood, NJ, on April 2nd from 1-5 p.m. Please see our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Lesleypalooza-1828181980797340/.
Please note that donations will not be tax-deductible to the donor and that 10% of the proceeds will be going to the Tisch MS Research Center of New York.
Also, for those who prefer to write a check, please make it out to "Lesleypalooza LLC." You can mail it to Lesleypalooza LLC/ P.O. Box 373/ Ridgewood, NJ 07451-0373.
Thank you again.
Organizer and beneficiary
Anne Burton Walsh
Organizer
Ridgewood, NJ
Martin Ellis
Beneficiary
