Keep Our Doors Open
Donation protected
Mom and Pop's House in Austin, TX, is a place where people come to rebuild their lives. Many residents have been safely placed here out of abusive living conditions by government and private agencies and charities. Other residents are mentally or physically challenged.
Let me introduce you to some of our people: 2 single mothers with children, a single grandmother with 3 grandchildren, 2 couples with children, 2 paraplegics, 2 seniors over 70, several seniors over 50, a young couple expecting a baby, a girl who was a troubled teen when she came to us and is now engaged, 2 schizophrenics, several ex-cons, 2 severe diabetics, a couple whose daughter has PTSD, couple of former military personnel with PTSD, 9 alcoholics, 3 permanently disabled and in wheelchairs, or on walkers, 1 epileptic, and many more. As you can see, we have a wide range of people and problems. Mom and Pop's House welcomes everybody that behaves with open arms.
During the past few months, Mom and Pop's House has been hit with astronomical utility/electric bills due to the hot Texas summer. We need to raise $40,000 within days to remain open. So far, we have raised a little over $20,000 so we are half way there.
This is not a totally new situation for us to be in...we are in our 5th year of operation. However the main source of funding for this year's high summer utilities/electric expense was an insurance settlement we are rightfully due from the previous owner of the building. The previous owner received the settlement check from the insurance company the end of April prior to the hot summer months. Our portion of the insurance settlement is right at $300,000, which we knew would more than cover our high summer operating costs.
Once the previous owner received the huge insurance check, he decided to renege on our written agreement forcing us to seek legal action against him for the $300,000 plus damages. All parties attended a pre-litigation mediation session all day Thursday, October 10, 2013 in hopes of settling this matter and receiving our payment that is due us. No settlement could be reached in mediation, so now, we are forced to file a lawsuit against him.
You may wonder why we trusted the previous owner so much. First, we have been doing business with him for over 8 years, and he has always performed as agreed throughout the years. Second, he is a licensed Real Estate Agent here in Texas. And lastly, not only is he a licensed real estate agent, he is also a licensed Real Estate Broker here in Texas. We certainly had no reason to doubt his written agreement with us
In the meantime, it leaves us in a very vulnerable cash position, and unless we have some angels that can help us financially until we do receive the funds from the lawsuit, we will be forced to shut down within a week or two. Once we receive our funds from the lawsuit, the angels will be repaid, if they so wish.
Our attorney fees are $300hr, but because our case is so strong, the attorney took our case on a contingency basis. In other words, we have no attorney fees. If we win, he takes a percentage of the winnings. If we lose, he gets nothing. Attorneys do not take these kind of cases unless they are certain they will win a case. But the best part about our attorney is -- he has already sued this person in the past -- and won in court against him. So we feel we are in great hands.
Now, if we can only keep the doors open until justice is served.
Let me introduce you to some of our people: 2 single mothers with children, a single grandmother with 3 grandchildren, 2 couples with children, 2 paraplegics, 2 seniors over 70, several seniors over 50, a young couple expecting a baby, a girl who was a troubled teen when she came to us and is now engaged, 2 schizophrenics, several ex-cons, 2 severe diabetics, a couple whose daughter has PTSD, couple of former military personnel with PTSD, 9 alcoholics, 3 permanently disabled and in wheelchairs, or on walkers, 1 epileptic, and many more. As you can see, we have a wide range of people and problems. Mom and Pop's House welcomes everybody that behaves with open arms.
During the past few months, Mom and Pop's House has been hit with astronomical utility/electric bills due to the hot Texas summer. We need to raise $40,000 within days to remain open. So far, we have raised a little over $20,000 so we are half way there.
This is not a totally new situation for us to be in...we are in our 5th year of operation. However the main source of funding for this year's high summer utilities/electric expense was an insurance settlement we are rightfully due from the previous owner of the building. The previous owner received the settlement check from the insurance company the end of April prior to the hot summer months. Our portion of the insurance settlement is right at $300,000, which we knew would more than cover our high summer operating costs.
Once the previous owner received the huge insurance check, he decided to renege on our written agreement forcing us to seek legal action against him for the $300,000 plus damages. All parties attended a pre-litigation mediation session all day Thursday, October 10, 2013 in hopes of settling this matter and receiving our payment that is due us. No settlement could be reached in mediation, so now, we are forced to file a lawsuit against him.
You may wonder why we trusted the previous owner so much. First, we have been doing business with him for over 8 years, and he has always performed as agreed throughout the years. Second, he is a licensed Real Estate Agent here in Texas. And lastly, not only is he a licensed real estate agent, he is also a licensed Real Estate Broker here in Texas. We certainly had no reason to doubt his written agreement with us
In the meantime, it leaves us in a very vulnerable cash position, and unless we have some angels that can help us financially until we do receive the funds from the lawsuit, we will be forced to shut down within a week or two. Once we receive our funds from the lawsuit, the angels will be repaid, if they so wish.
Our attorney fees are $300hr, but because our case is so strong, the attorney took our case on a contingency basis. In other words, we have no attorney fees. If we win, he takes a percentage of the winnings. If we lose, he gets nothing. Attorneys do not take these kind of cases unless they are certain they will win a case. But the best part about our attorney is -- he has already sued this person in the past -- and won in court against him. So we feel we are in great hands.
Now, if we can only keep the doors open until justice is served.
Organizer
Connie Bennett Mallory
Organizer
Austin, TX
