<div><strong>The short version: </strong>
</div>
<div>Couple with severe long COVID, finally getting better, now forced to move because their new landlord is starting construction in May. Construction dust + reinfection risk = guaranteed relapse. They have very limited income and almost no savings. Money unlocks a safe place to land. Let’s show up for them.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Our goal covers</strong>
</div>
<ul>
<li>COVID-safer moving (respirator wearing enforced) - $3k
</li>
<li>move-in clean (professional deep clean) - $600
</li>
<li>first month's rent - $1600
</li>
<li>rent difference for 6 months: $4200
</li>
<li>wiggle room/contingency (GoFundMe fees + e.g. if a storage locker is needed, or furniture breaks and needs replacement) - $600
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>The long version:</strong>
</div>
<div>E and J* arrived in Montreal in the summer of 2023. They got sick in the fall. In those brief months before becoming ill, they helped set up a city-wide mask and test network, which has since evolved into a full-blown anti-COVID activism and advocacy group. Since getting disabled by COVID, they’ve spent an enormous amount of their time advocating for other patients: sharing research, making calls, creating self-advocacy tools for medical appointments, helping them navigate bureaucracy. All of this from bed.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>They are extraordinary.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>They were super COVID-cautious from the very beginning: N95s everywhere, kept up with the science. Knew they were high risk. They dodged infection for almost three years. Then, in late 2023, COVID found them. Maybe outdoors, maybe a mask fit failure. They'll never know.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Both developed extremely severe long COVID. They spent over a year bedbound. They had to re-learn how to read and slowly rebuild the ability to stand.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/102176365_1775699018364880_r.png" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Slowly, impossibly, they clawed their way back. Through sheer stubbornness, they mapped their food intolerances from scratch. They read the medical research and internalized the importance of rest and pacing. They turned a dismissive doctor into an ally. One medication gave them 10% function back. Another gave 5%. Another, 20%. Small gains, stacked on top of each other, until they went from bedbound to housebound–still sick, but liveable.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>They started preparing for a return to work. For the first time in years, there was a path forward.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Then in November 2025, their landlord sold the building. The new owner <a href="https://classifieds.csu.qc.ca/en/news/quebec-passes-3-year-moratorium-on-evictions-bill-65-explained/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">couldn’t renovict them</a>, so instead he opted for veiled threats like the boss from a B-list mafia movie: "I’m renovating. You're welcome to stay, but it'll be awful. Awful dust, awful noise. I understand you have health issues, but construction proceeds regardless."
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>For people with Long COVID, dust and noise guarantee regression in health and quality of life due to a combination of completely disproportionate neurological, muscular and immune responses to external stressors: simple external event, bloody-minded weeks- or months-long retribution from their bodies. With something as disruptive as construction, we’d expect this to include the return of symptoms E and J have successfully kept at bay for a long time, such as cognitive dysfunction presenting similarly to a brain injury, severe pain, and inability to stand. If they stay through construction, they will get much sicker. Back to bedbound. Back to square one.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The doctor who had finally come to understand their situation moved away. Their new doctor is sympathetic, but won't advocate for them, says they haven't been in her care long enough. Without a doctor’s letter documenting their disability and the medical necessity of avoiding construction (or taking strict precautions), they have no legal footing to demand accommodations or delay the renovation. No medical backup = no leverage with the landlord.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Could they fight this at the TAL (Québec Administrative Tribunal for Housing)? Maybe. But fighting this will be legally challenging since the renovations are only in neighbouring units. And, even if they won, they'd still be in a building only accessible by two flights of rickety iron stairs, that has been keeping them housebound and slowly breaking them for three years, with a hostile landlord. Construction starts in May and will take months. They don't have months.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>They have no reliable income–this situation has been taking up all the time and energy they would otherwise be spending on a planned return to work. Savings are almost depleted. On paper, they look like a risk to a new landlord. In reality, they're two people who have fought harder for their lives than anyone I know, and they need help to avoid losing it all.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The stress is already costing them. They need to move now, because staying is eroding their health.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>When the landlord first voiced his intention to break the lease and renovate the building, he offered E+J a fraction of what it would actually cost for them to relocate safely. When they countered his lowball offer with a realistic estimate of the cost of moving, he escalated with threats.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Money unlocks the way out:
</div>
<div>Professional movers so the physical act of moving doesn't render them bed-bound again
</div>
<div>A new place they can actually live in
</div>
<div>Time to recover from this ordeal without immediately having to find work.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We have a team ready to help with logistics. We have friends who are helping to find a new, accessible apartment. We've found a moving company willing to enforce respirator use so E and J can be safe during the move. All the pieces are in place, we just need the funding to make it happen.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Our goal is to have them moved by May, before construction begins. If you can donate, please do. If you can't, please share. Every dollar gets them closer to safety. Thank you.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/102176365_1775699065996456_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This fundraiser is managed by Kate Hardin, to whom E + J are dear friends. Funds raised will be deposited directly to E + J's bank account.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>*Names changed for privacy and to protect from landlord retaliation.
</div>

Arye Thompson

Anonymous

Marri Knadle

Fabiano Lentini

Helen Mintz

Aila Fournier

Alyssa Giannini

Tamara El-Ali

Aislinn Wyatt

Emily Gray

Emergency Relocation Funds for Long COVID Couple

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Eligible for Profile Comment Badge

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

isEligibleForProfileCommentBadge

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Just $959$961$960$959$958$957 to go! Make an impact.

Emergency Relocation Funds for Long COVID Couple

Just $959 to go!
Make an impact.