Autism, Alcoholics, Addicts and Fire

My name is Charlene, I live in Malibu and my partner, our son, and I are victims of the Palisades Fire.

We have successfully owned and operated a sober living facility in Malibu, CA since 2012, and the beautiful home we were leasing for our sober clients burned to the ground.

We are grateful that our small condo where we live was spared, but we are struggling to find a new facility to restart our business and work again.

We have looked into restarting out of the area, but there are circumstances that complicate our situation, one being our 17-year-old son who is totally non-verbal, has been diagnosed on the severe end of the Autism spectrum, and requires 24/7 adult supervision/care. A move would exacerbate his stress and eliminate the services we currently have in place for his continued care.

There are few available rental homes in the area, and the homes that are available are either doubled/tripled in price or are (thankfully) being prioritized to locals to rent while rebuilding their homes.

We are asking for these funds to cover living expenses while we search for options and to ultimately cover the security deposit and first/last months’ payment requirement for the new rental home that we are hopeful to ultimately find.

Meanwhile, my greatest fear is figuring out how we continue paying for our son’s care now and for the rest of his life, especially as his father and I (in our mid-60s and 50s respectively) approach our retirement ages with debt and without savings.

I have to admit that I often admire parents of neurotypical kids for the mere fact that once their children grow into adults, most will be able to obtain work to provide for themselves and maybe even reciprocate to help provide for their parents! This is not the case for our family…

It is humbling to ask for assistance, and I am doing this with the utmost and sincerest gratitude for your willingness to help.

Thank you so very much.