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Disabled and STILL fighting

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Hello there, My name is Kim and my husband and I are very hard working people.
And we have a GOAL in mind. We want our own land. Not a home in the sub-burbs, not a white picket fence, just LAND. That's it.

Before I tell you about the land, let me tell you why we are asking for help.
My husband is a Disabled Marine. He has been fighting the VA for over 10 years, and still they only accept him as being 20% disabled.
The VA put him through school,but in this job market it is hard for him to find work as an Office Assistant, meanwhile we only get $263 a month.

I am Disabled. I am 35 yrs old. I have an Associates DEGREE in Environmental Studies with a Sustainability Focus and an Associates of Arts Transfer Degree, but my Birth Defect has gotten so painful that I have been DOCTOR ordered not to work. I have multiple mental issues that stem from the pain. After 7 1/2 yes I won my SSD case.
We have been homeless since July of 2012. And now FINALLY have a place to rent until we can get on the land.


Aaron, my husband, has been making a documentary of our life outside of "normal" domiciles since we started this adventure.

Please take a look.

We are not freeloaders. We are very hard workers, that can only do this hard work for maybe 2-3 hours a day with a very complaining body afterward. BUT, we do it. Because there is no other way currently. Because we wish to know if we can live our Dream.

The Dream of our own land. Living without all the "trappings."

We lived in an Abandoned Chicken Coop, that we made into a fairly decent dwelling, for 10 1/2 months. We got kicked out.

We lived in the state forest for 3 weeks (the maximum allowed)

We then moved to an area of green-space in Tigard, Oregon. We were there for just under a month. The cops came on the 4th of July, and told us to move because we were too visible from the road.

We moved down about 2ish blocks of the "green-space." This part of the area has been a homeless "camp" for about 30 years. The debris of 30 years of Transients is disgusting. We set about Cleaning it up while we are there.

We had set-up a great area there. We had a bathroom, a bathing area, a kitchen, it was insulated for winter. It was great.

But on Saturday Sept. 21 of 2013, the cops came by, again.
Though, They loved that we cleaned up, they loved that we actually got the tweakers out of the woods, they loved that we had set up rules to live by out here (as there were about 4 other camps in our area). They loved that we had a great set-up.

BUT....
You see here in Oregon its pretty much Illegal to be Homeless.
There is a city ordinance in almost every town/city that states no camping. And camping is not what you and me think of as camping. To them, its setting up a bed area, or even a place to sleep like your car, or even just setting up a stove to cook for the night.

So, we decided it was time to ask for some help and not just try to live our lifestyle and attempt to survive in a place that made it illegal to be poor.

We have had mixed reviews on our video where Aaron first broke down and asked for help, but for the most part people have been very possitive. For that, we thank you.

We stayed in Tigard until July 2014, when the city police did a major sweep and ran everyone out. Since then we have bounced around alot -as those of you who have been watching the videos already know. But now, we have put money down on land

We want to live on our own land. 
We are now making PAYMENTS on our land.
4.85 acres in the Bonanza, Oregon area.
Klamath Falls area.

The land is $18,000 we are going to be paying $197 a month, which we can afford. However, before we can move onto our land, we need to get a septic tank installed.

Our LAND
We will keep everyone informed.

Thank you for any help you can give.

I understand how broke most of the country is. Even a small amount is helpful. Thank you.

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Donations 

  • SSD backpay
    • $1,500 (Offline)
    • 6 yrs
  • Construction Worker
    • $100 (Offline)
    • 9 yrs
Donate

Organizer

Kim Dukes
Organizer
Chiloquin, OR

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