Chattanooga or Bust!
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Moving Expenses:
Chattanooga or Bust!
Hi! We are Matt and Vanessa and we are are asking for your help in moving from Lancaster, California, to Chattanooga, Tennessee!
As some of you know, in 2010 we moved from Vermont to California. Some great things have happened out here the last couple years. Vanessa decided to go back to school to become a licensed massage therapist and graduated as the valedictorian of her class in 2012! Matt has been working for over two years now at Office Tools Professional, where he is a valued employee. Matt wants ultimately to pursue a career in database administration and writing and Vanessa dreams of using her massage therapy skills to specialize in oncology massage and end of life/hospice care.
Unfortunately, this outer suburb of Los Angeles still has a very depressed economy, with low wages and high living expenses, and to move further in our careers requires a new location. Additionally, Vanessa has been geographically separated from her family for far too many years and wants very much to be closer to her relatives and friends in Georgia and Tennessee.
After much research and deliberation, we have chosen Chattanooga, Tennessee, as our new hometown! It has a thriving technology industry and major medical facilities to support our career goals, but also the small-city feel and mountain greenery that we long for. Vanessa was even able to make a scouting trip in March, and everything she saw and everyone she met confirmed that Chattanooga is the place for us!
Here is where you come in! Moving is expensive, and low wages here in Lancaster have made it extremely difficult to accumulate the necessary savings. We need to raise $6000 to cover the following costs:
· Rental, transportation, and delivery of a POD-like moving container.
· Gasoline, motels, and meals during our cross-country drive with two adults, two dogs, and one cat.
· First month's rent, deposits, and fees for an apartment in Chattanooga.
· Registration fee for Vanessa to take the national licensing exam for massage therapists, crucial for getting licensed to practice in a new state.
· A cushion of one to two months' worth of living expenses while we secure jobs. We are more than willing to do temp work to pay the bills while we search for jobs in our chosen fields, but we still need to be prepared for the possibility of a few weeks with no income.
· If we manage to raise enough for all that, we still have some furniture in a storage unit back in Vermont, which we would love to retrieve so we can stop paying that monthly storage fee. But that will require a one-way plane ticket, a rental truck, and some gasoline.
We would love to make this move by the end of 2013, but we are determined to pursue this dream even if it takes longer. Every dollar you give puts us that much closer to our new hometown!
Hi! We are Matt and Vanessa and we are are asking for your help in moving from Lancaster, California, to Chattanooga, Tennessee!
As some of you know, in 2010 we moved from Vermont to California. Some great things have happened out here the last couple years. Vanessa decided to go back to school to become a licensed massage therapist and graduated as the valedictorian of her class in 2012! Matt has been working for over two years now at Office Tools Professional, where he is a valued employee. Matt wants ultimately to pursue a career in database administration and writing and Vanessa dreams of using her massage therapy skills to specialize in oncology massage and end of life/hospice care.
Unfortunately, this outer suburb of Los Angeles still has a very depressed economy, with low wages and high living expenses, and to move further in our careers requires a new location. Additionally, Vanessa has been geographically separated from her family for far too many years and wants very much to be closer to her relatives and friends in Georgia and Tennessee.
After much research and deliberation, we have chosen Chattanooga, Tennessee, as our new hometown! It has a thriving technology industry and major medical facilities to support our career goals, but also the small-city feel and mountain greenery that we long for. Vanessa was even able to make a scouting trip in March, and everything she saw and everyone she met confirmed that Chattanooga is the place for us!
Here is where you come in! Moving is expensive, and low wages here in Lancaster have made it extremely difficult to accumulate the necessary savings. We need to raise $6000 to cover the following costs:
· Rental, transportation, and delivery of a POD-like moving container.
· Gasoline, motels, and meals during our cross-country drive with two adults, two dogs, and one cat.
· First month's rent, deposits, and fees for an apartment in Chattanooga.
· Registration fee for Vanessa to take the national licensing exam for massage therapists, crucial for getting licensed to practice in a new state.
· A cushion of one to two months' worth of living expenses while we secure jobs. We are more than willing to do temp work to pay the bills while we search for jobs in our chosen fields, but we still need to be prepared for the possibility of a few weeks with no income.
· If we manage to raise enough for all that, we still have some furniture in a storage unit back in Vermont, which we would love to retrieve so we can stop paying that monthly storage fee. But that will require a one-way plane ticket, a rental truck, and some gasoline.
We would love to make this move by the end of 2013, but we are determined to pursue this dream even if it takes longer. Every dollar you give puts us that much closer to our new hometown!
Organizer
Vanessa Olmstead McDonald
Organizer
Lancaster, CA
