We’re a tight-knit family built on love, faith, and resilience.

We are the Carson family!

We met in 6th grade in elementary school, life tossed us around a bit till we started dating when we were 20 (We just celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary!). Just three months into our relationship, Levi left for Army basic training to become an Infantryman and was stationed at Fort Hood shortly after. We got married in under a year. Let’s be honest, we eloped and began a life of adventure and growth, moving together across the country—and even across the world—to Texas, North Carolina, and Italy. While levi learned and grew within his role in the military, joining the 173rd Airborne in Italy.

Our first son was born in an Italian hospital in August of 2018.

After Levi’s 5 years of service U.S. Army, we left the military life and we returned to Phoenix, AZ, where he immediately began working in concrete construction. We bought our first home on 9/2021, and welcomed our second son the very next day.

Our oldest son has faced several health complications, including an autoimmune disease effecting his esophagus and lungs. This led us to relocate from Arizona to Raleigh, NC in June 2022 in hopes of better healthcare and more stability at Duke Children’s. His health and wellbeing has deeply driven our path to finding and making our home. We purchased our current home in July 2022 after driving across the country with our two little boys and one very well traveled German Shepherd. Levi transitioned into a new career within concrete construction here in the Raleigh Triangle.

In July 2023, our nephew Zack (20) followed us from Arizona to North Carolina for adventure and opportunity. He’s now working in the concrete construction as well and has become an important part of our family structure and life.

Then in November 2023, we welcomed our third baby boy into the world! We were on a new chapter with our three boys, until just 9 months later we would have fire and smoke consume the life we knew.

What Happened:

On September 2, 2024, as we prepared for Levi to begin a new out-of-state construction project our home caught fire. Everything inside was destroyed as the result of noxious smoke and soot —clothes, furniture, toys, essentials, and irreplaceable memories. The house must be completely gutted down to the studs and repaired from the inside out to be deemed safe and habitable for our family and our oldest son’s health. Since day one of this chaos we’ve been left stranded by our homeowner’s insurance agency, who has delayed, denied, and dragged their feet leaving us not only stuck in limbo for over 7 months but left with the very foundation of family life ripped from under our feet; again and again.

We’ve moved 13 times between Airbnbs and hotels, trying to give our boys some sense of stability in the middle of utter instability. In November, Levi lost his job after more than two years and after two months of living in a tent in the Virginia state forest to travel for work during this crisis. Ashlyn packed up the boys, our GSD, and a few suitcases from place to place. Till we couldn’t keep ourselves together without him home with our family. We did our best to maintain the magic of the holidays for our boys; as we faced the fears of having neither a home nor a job. Thankfully Levi began a new position in January that has returned some semblance of stability to the family.

In the same month, we tried to secure stable housing and paid upfront $9,900 for a rental home just 14 minutes from our six year olds school. After just 40 days and a dissolving Landlord/Tenant relationship, we were forced to leave due to unsafe living conditions and a hostile landlord. None of that money has been returned to us.

    •    Where We Are Now:

With no other option, we are currently living in a travel trailer on our property, and our nephew Zack is staying in a tiny house in the backyard to give us a little more space.

Our homeowner’s insurance has still not approved reconstruction, and now they’ve stopped paying for the storage pods that hold what’s left of our belongings. We were told that by April 1, the pods must be emptied, and it’s our responsibility to throw everything away—despite them being the last salvageable pieces of our life before the fire.

As we were lost in the murk and confusion of navigating an unwilling insurance agency. We were pressed to hire a public adjuster to handle the insurance claim and an attorney to ensure our needs and the policies responsibilities were upheld. We’ve had to take these drastic steps just to try to get the insurance company to act in good faith, and it’s been both emotionally and financially draining.

We also learned that the mitigation company hired after the fire inflated their estimate significantly after negligently handling our home, and they have placed a lien on our home. This has added a massive financial burden and prevented us from making any progress with repairs or moving forward with rebuilding. The stress of being caught between the financially driven fight of multiple parties—insurance, contractors, and now the lien—has left us overwhelmed and exhausted.

On top of this, we are now pushed to the point of relocating cities soon to be near the support of the family we have in the state, which will mean pulling our 6-year-old from school, further disrupting his routine. Our 3-year-old is just confused why we have to keep moving and our 16-month-old has never known a stable home. We are doing everything we can to keep it together, but the mounting pressure, lack of support, and tight deadlines are making it impossible to manage alone.

How You Can Help:

We’re reaching out because we need help to keep going.

Your support will help us:

•    Secure safe and stable housing

•    Cover legal costs and losses from our rental

•    Pay for basic essentials for our kids (diapers, clothes, food)

•    Fund the expenses of relocating and rebuilding

We’ve always worked hard to take care of our family, but this situation has become too big for us to carry alone. After struggling to move forward on our own we have to admit; We need help. If you’re able to donate, share, or send prayers—we’re so incredibly grateful.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for being here and for helping us find hope in the middle of heartbreak.

With love,

Levi, Ashlyn, and our boys