I want to tell you the story of Hope Aument, and Jeremy Manz. These two young people, met, fell in love, had a son. Shortly after the birth of their son, Hope came face to face with a genetic disease, Ataxia Telangiectasia, that was suspected in her, but never realized. For Hope, and Jeremy their lives were changed forever. Love carried them through many battles as Hope lost her ability to walk, her ability to work, and was faced with the day to day struggles of living with a disease that is like MS, and Parkinson's combined.

Faced with this ever growing difficulty, these two young lovers would not be dissauded, and continued to work toward raising their son, and building a life together. As you may imagine, living with a handicapped person provides many challenges, including but not limited to Hope's inability to earn income. Being young and disabled with limited work experience, Hope does not qualify for Disablility from Social Security, go figure the government isn't helping someone in need. Hope does qualify for a lesser program, known as SSI, supplimental income from Social Security, which is about half of what Disability is.

Jeremy and Hope, as most young and starting out couples, need every penny, and then some to make it on their own. Over the years, Jeremy managed to save enough money to buy Hope an engagement ring, and propose to her. Diligently working to better himself through education, and hard work, Jeremy landed a job that would afford him the ability to support Hope, and their son, and with Hope's limited income, they could even buy the house they are living in. Everything was starting to look up for this couple and they were getting excited as the day of their wedding approached, May 14, 2016. 

But as the government tends to do, just when it was looking prosperous for Jeremy and Hope, the government stepped in. The Social Security Administration informed Hope that once she and Jeremy are married, because of Jeremy's income, she will lose about 70% of her SSI. This news has hit them especially hard in that they can't afford to lose that much of Hope's income and still afford the modest house they want to buy. While Hope has continued to look for employment during this time, she finds it nearly impossible to find work for someone who can not drive, walk, type, or write.

As Hope's parents, and family, we have tried all that we can think of to help this couple work together, grow together, and love together. For us this the next step in the process that we work on. We are hoping to raise enough money to pay off the house Jeremy and Hope want to buy, or at the very least have a significant down payment for them. Jeremy commented recently that he is frustrated with getting kicked in the teeth by life all the time. He and Hope have faced this up hill battle with more strength and determination then most couples. They have worked extremely hard to make this relationship work, and we are hoping to reward their hard work by deflecting this latest kick. 

It would mean so much to us, to Jeremy, Hope, and their son, that for once THEY could be the one to get the good deal, and have things go right for them. Hope's disease is progressive, and we aren't sure what the future holds, but we are willing to honor Jeremy and Hope's willingness to fight, by joining in this fight with them. We pray that you will also join in, and help this young couple who has been through so much, receive the blessings of the community. We thank you so much for taking the time to even consider this project.

We desire to have most of the money in place for them by the end of August 2016, so that as their son begins his new school year, they may begin living in the house that is truly theirs.

Being naive to Facebook, believe it or not some of us still exist, we are reaching out through Hope's sister Paige, who also has the disease, and are using her Facebook page to run this campaign.

Thank you, Rev. Scott and Nanette Aument and family.