Donate to help with Property Tax

Hello. My name is Jeffery Graham, and I was raised in the house pictured here. It belonged to my great grandparents, Erwin (Bud) and Leota (Dorothy) Kirste. My great-grandparents moved into this house to live on the outskirts of the town of Peoria, moving from Washburn, Illinois.

I was raised in this house from an infant, and now in the process of putting the house in my name. To do that we must pay off back taxes, otherwise, we will lose this house that's been in our family for a very long time.

So why do we need this money, and how's come the property taxes hasn't been paid? Well, there are many factors involved.

In January of 2018, Leota passed away. Property taxes for 2018 were paid, and still had exemption, so we only paid roughly 550.

Starting in 2020, when COVID-19 dominated the world, we utilized money to help keep us in stock (cleaning products, food to keep us indoors, face masks, etc). Our property taxes jumped to 2400 per year. We did our best to save, and despite the one time half-payments that the State of Illinois accepted, we did not have enough money.

Jump to 2021, a resident of this household had an injury and was in the hospital for right around 3 weeks. During his time there, he resulted in kidney failure due to the antibiotics used. With him being diabetic and as weak as he was during his stay, he ended up in a nursing home for almost 5 months. This left my brother and me taking care of all of the bills of the house, and no money could be saved for the property tax.

Later on in the year, I developed car trouble. I had to surrender the vehicle and get a new one, resulting in a higher car payment, and insurance. This cut into the savings I had for property tax, and got behind on some bills for a while due to this.

Jump to 2022, My brother started having car trouble. I had to co-sign for him a vehicle, which put further strain on our finances. He gave up his old vehicle due to the repair costs.

This leaves us very little extra money for what's left after bills. So, as a last resort, I am using gofundme to ask you for help.

My brother and I both work full-time jobs, our uncle is on dialysis and is on disability with limited income, and I have my own business which I am still getting off the ground. We need the money by May 2023. We will lose the house and be forced to live elsewhere if this isn't resolved soon.

We are still reaching out for alternatives, but there is no better power than asking for help from our friends. If we do come up with a solution, we will more than happily donate the funds to the Ronald McDonald's House of Peoria.

If you have any questions just reach out on social media.