Ernst Family Flood Recovery
Spende geschützt
Dear Friends,
We are humbled to be asking for help in this way. In the 19 years we have been married, Steve and I have worked our way through many financial hardships without ever asking for help. Within the first year of our marriage, we had a baby born with severe surgical needs. We dubbed her the "million dollar" baby. She's worth every penny, and every extra job we've ever taken to make ends meet...even our 5am paper routes in Corning!
Since moving to the Binghamton area, we have lived through two floods in two different rental homes, each time losing many possessions. After years of paying medical debt, we were finally in a position to buy our current home in 2009. Two years later, we suffered a devastating flood. Thankfully, FEMA stepped in and helped. Although it didn't come near the cost of rebuilding, we were able to rebuild about half of what was damaged. We were told that our home had never flooded, that this was a "100 year flood" and that it should never happen again. We decided to stay put, as we love our home and our community. After this happened, we attempted to get flood insurance, and were denied because we aren't in a "flood zone".
Tuesday night, the unthinkable happened. Once again, a flash flood entered our home. Thankfully, it wasn't nearly as bad as last time, but still caused thousands of dollars worth of damage. We learned today that FEMA will not help this time around, because not enough families were effected. The town supervisor stopped by our house and let us know that the town has no money to help, either. Unfortunately, we simply cannot afford this kind of unexpected repair. With two kids in braces (and one on the way!), a car with 220,000 miles on it, and continuing medical bills, we just don't have the financial margin for an event like this.
Thankfully, our dear friends from church helped remove a significant amount of mud yesterday, and Stanley Steamer came in today to start repairing our floors. We rented a dumpster from Taylor to handle all that we lost, and have spent two days cleaning, sorting, and keeping our chins up (between the laughter and tears). In our marriage, we have learned to say "It's okay. It will always be okay. We have God and each other." And we mean that. But right now, we need some help. We can't do this on our own.
$5,000 will help repair our living room carpet, pay for the dumpster rental, and pay for drywall materials, which are our immediate needs. We will do all the work that we can do on our own to save costs. Any money raised beyond that will go to fix our bathroom (which has to be gutted), laundry room, landing, garage, and storage closet beneath our stairs. And if by some miracle money is raised beyond that, it will go to replace our Christmas trees and towards a new-to-us minivan.
I know many of our friends are not in a position to give, and that is okay. We firmly believe that God will see us through. If you cannot give, we ask that you pray for us, specifically for our finances. We have worked so hard for so many years, and it seems as though each time we get ahead financially, something like this happens. A surgery. A flood. An unexpected trip. Car issues. Braces. The list goes on and on.
Thank you, friends. Thank you for reading this, for loving us, and for your support. Thank you for praying, and if you are able, for supporting us financially. It is humbling to ask for help. We appreciate any amount you are able to give.
Love,
Steve and Stacy
We are humbled to be asking for help in this way. In the 19 years we have been married, Steve and I have worked our way through many financial hardships without ever asking for help. Within the first year of our marriage, we had a baby born with severe surgical needs. We dubbed her the "million dollar" baby. She's worth every penny, and every extra job we've ever taken to make ends meet...even our 5am paper routes in Corning!
Since moving to the Binghamton area, we have lived through two floods in two different rental homes, each time losing many possessions. After years of paying medical debt, we were finally in a position to buy our current home in 2009. Two years later, we suffered a devastating flood. Thankfully, FEMA stepped in and helped. Although it didn't come near the cost of rebuilding, we were able to rebuild about half of what was damaged. We were told that our home had never flooded, that this was a "100 year flood" and that it should never happen again. We decided to stay put, as we love our home and our community. After this happened, we attempted to get flood insurance, and were denied because we aren't in a "flood zone".
Tuesday night, the unthinkable happened. Once again, a flash flood entered our home. Thankfully, it wasn't nearly as bad as last time, but still caused thousands of dollars worth of damage. We learned today that FEMA will not help this time around, because not enough families were effected. The town supervisor stopped by our house and let us know that the town has no money to help, either. Unfortunately, we simply cannot afford this kind of unexpected repair. With two kids in braces (and one on the way!), a car with 220,000 miles on it, and continuing medical bills, we just don't have the financial margin for an event like this.
Thankfully, our dear friends from church helped remove a significant amount of mud yesterday, and Stanley Steamer came in today to start repairing our floors. We rented a dumpster from Taylor to handle all that we lost, and have spent two days cleaning, sorting, and keeping our chins up (between the laughter and tears). In our marriage, we have learned to say "It's okay. It will always be okay. We have God and each other." And we mean that. But right now, we need some help. We can't do this on our own.
$5,000 will help repair our living room carpet, pay for the dumpster rental, and pay for drywall materials, which are our immediate needs. We will do all the work that we can do on our own to save costs. Any money raised beyond that will go to fix our bathroom (which has to be gutted), laundry room, landing, garage, and storage closet beneath our stairs. And if by some miracle money is raised beyond that, it will go to replace our Christmas trees and towards a new-to-us minivan.
I know many of our friends are not in a position to give, and that is okay. We firmly believe that God will see us through. If you cannot give, we ask that you pray for us, specifically for our finances. We have worked so hard for so many years, and it seems as though each time we get ahead financially, something like this happens. A surgery. A flood. An unexpected trip. Car issues. Braces. The list goes on and on.
Thank you, friends. Thank you for reading this, for loving us, and for your support. Thank you for praying, and if you are able, for supporting us financially. It is humbling to ask for help. We appreciate any amount you are able to give.
Love,
Steve and Stacy
Organisator
Stacy Gyllensten Ernst
Organisator
Apalachin, NY
