Emergency Housing Funds due to Hurricane Ian

Hi, my name is Katelyn Ellis, and I am currently a student at Wellesley College. I was raised in Volusia County, Florida, where my family still lives today. This fundraiser is for my family, the Ellis family.

We were deeply impacted by Hurricane Ian, leaving our houses to be completely unliveable for weeks. We are effectively homeless.

At 7 am, my family was woken up to water rapidly rising in our house. The backdoor had nearly 3 ft of water just waiting to come in our house, and if the glass broke, my family could’ve possibly died. They had to immediately evacuate and basically canoe down to my grandpa’s house down the river of a road.

We had up to 18 inches of flooding in our home. causing copious amounts of water damage. Our house was flooded with brown, sewage water. Furniture, walls, etc. were all destroyed.

We have nowhere safe to stay, due to all of the water damage in our homes. We have no utilities or power in either of our houses as well, which is especially difficult in the Florida heat. Attached at the end will be some pictures of damages from the storm.

We are in desperate needs of funds for emergency housing, so my parents and friends have a place to sleep at night. We need a hotel room for 4-5 that also accommodates our dog, Diamon.

We have no idea when or if our house will ever be livable again. We do not even have an adjuster coming until the 14th of October. Our house has been deemed unliveable by FEMA as well.

My family is amazing, and they’ve done everything they can for me. They worked so hard for our house and for my future. Both my parents were such a huge support for me in all of my life, and they’re the kindest people to ever exist. I love them so so much.

It is a huge burden on my family to pay for incredibly high hotel costs, as it is thousands of dollars we can’t afford. I really just want my family to have a place to stay and be safe, and any dollar counts. NFIP refuses to cover any alternate housing, which is thousands out of pocket. FEMA does not cover nearly enough as it is looking like we will be out of our house for nearly 2 months.

Please share this around, as it is super urgent. We have no safe housing right now, and it would be really appreciated.

The funds will be given to my mother, Carolyn. The funds will be directly going towards hotel costs.

Thank you so much for reading. <3 Please share if you can!!