For health and safety, we have all been forced to leave our home -It turns out that our home is infected with mould! We have finally found the source of the ridiculously long list of mystery symptoms that have rendered both Eris and I disabled. At present, we are homeless - living on support from our friends and sleeping on couches since mid February. Without my studio, I am unable to freelance and our funds have absolutely run dry. Now we have one week to pay for professional testing of the property, pack up our lives and GET OUT!
The catch is we are too ill to do it ourselves.
That’s why we need your help.
The situation is effectively one great big game of The Floor Is Lava. Except instead of Lava, we have mould - and instead of the floor, EVERYTHING IS LAVA.
Well, actually it’s mould. But you get the point.
Mould can be toxic to most people in concentration, but my housie and I are especially vulnerable as we have become sensitised due to constant exposure over a long time - I’ve additionally been diagnosed allergic to mould. Returning to the property causes us to relapse dramatically. If I spend any longer than 20 minutes in the building with a gas-mask on, my symptoms begin to flare. More than an hour and I’m a write off for the entire next day. Bringing an improperly cleaned object to a clean location also causes us to relapse. Everything we own is contaminated and will need professional cleaning over the coming months. We don’t even have a new home to move things into; finding a property when you are disabled, freelance for income and have a dog is a long and arduous process to say the least. Any potential place would also need to be bright, well ventilated and as mould-free as reasonably possible in order to be safe for us, which is apparently quite the tall order!
Heck me, that’s a lot! What’s the Solution?
Any financial contributions you can make will allow us to carry out the tasks in our evacuation plan!
The Plan is in two parts:
P1 - Get OUT
P2 - Get IN(to a new place and get our lives back on track!)
Part One: Get OUT
This is the most immediate phase, and needs to be completed by April 12th.
Tasks to be done are:
-Comprehensive Professional Testing and a VCAT compliant report
(Quoted $2750 minimum + additional samples as needed)
-Professional Packing Service to pack down our belongings safely
(Estimate ~800)
-Removalists to transport contaminated belongings to a quarantine location
(Estimate ~400)
-Disposal of the worst infected items
(Estimated tip fees ~300)
-Cleaning service to tidy up the property
(Estimate ~500)
Estimated total: $4250 - 4750
And that’s not covering emergency expenses, our specialist medical appointments, medication and outrageously high cost allergy and intolerance diet.
Whilst we have secured a location to act as quarantine for our belongings, the reality is that most of our possessions will have to be disposed of. Professional cleaning methods are terribly expensive, and rightly so - Mould is horribly hazardous stuff. Due to our time constraints we won’t be able to clean everything as we go.
Part Two: Get IN(to a new place)
Rough estimate: $4000+
This phase is about starting the next chapter of our lives - finding a safe home, beginning rehabilitation therapy, picking up my freelance work and cleaning our way through the contaminated remains of the old house. Whatever money we raise beyond P1’s goal will go directly to professional remediation in P2 - starting with my studio equipment so I can return to work and start repairing my safety net. We will inevitably find ourselves missing essential items we had to throw out, and will obviously need replacing. Things like specialist equipment, appliances, functional furniture and our wardrobes. I will update this section with clearer tasks and categories once it begins, as all our focus is on P1.
Oh, and there’s probably a VCAT trial or two on the horizon. Hopefully once we’re established enough to pursue it, but -- that’s not something we can control.
There’s no denying that this is an absolutely devastating reality to have to face, but having answers and getting out of there - having a chance at a full recovery - It’s such a sweet glimmer on a horizon that has been bleak for far too long.
Thank you, dear friends.
With your help we can get through this mouldy mess and rebuild our lives!