A House For the Jolls

UPDATE: We only need 2,378 more families to give $100!

On November 17th, 2018 Mike and Nancy’s adopted daughter dropped her three kids off at their door for a few weeks while she “got some help.”

She never came back.

That day began quite a journey for this family.

Details of the children’s lives started to come out. They had been evicted over 20 times before the oldest was even 12. The siblings had been neglected, mistreated, under-fed, and put in inappropriate situations.

When they first came, they had to be taught how to wash their hair. And even after years of being in the safety of their grandparents’ care, they hide food under their mattresses, and get triggered at the simplest of things.

On September 10th, 2019 after multiple court proceedings, a judge granted Mike and Nancy full custody of their three grandchildren. Their daughter has never come to court, or responded to attorney’s notices.

Mike and Nancy are trying to be strong for the kids as best they can.

“We are brokenhearted. We are exhausted. There are no breaks, and we’re in our 70’s. It’s taking every single thing we have to help them thrive and be prepared to enter the world as healthy adults. Counseling appointments, medical and psychiatric care, band practice, homework, church events.

There is no way out. Nobody to help. Nowhere else they can go. Our community is small and we don’t have many friends here. The school district isn’t good, and all 3 of them have struggled. They’ve been bullied, outcasted, or simply ignored.

We will do all we can until our last breath, but we’re tired.”

The Jolls can see only one option: to relocate to Smyrna, TN where their son and his wife live. There they could be near family, have better medical and mental health care options, get deeper support, build a community, and be in a better school district.

Mike and Nancy have spent most of their retirement fund caring for their grandchildren. Due to the demands of raising teenagers again at their stage of life, getting jobs or borrowing money for a new house in TN is not feasible. They do own a house that could likely sell for a little bit, but the housing market in TN is much higher.

This money is going to help them buy a house in their son’s area that they can turn into a safe haven for these kids. A place where the pressure can be lifted, the siblings can find their place in the world, and ultimately: where they can redeem their story. Together, as a multi-generational family. And our goal is June, 2023.

"We've already decided, if we end up getting a house in TN... we're going to call it 'Miracle House.'"

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