I'm raising funds for someone in a dangerous position, please find her words below.
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I am currently living in a house that has become dangerously uninhabitable. I have lived here with my 2 young children going on 4 years and still find myself unable to make it out of here. Having recently taken in a family member in desperate times who is expecting her first baby in Feb next year, it has become more important than ever.
What started as small patches of mould has now spread across our walls and floors. The situation has escalated to the point where mushrooms are literally growing through the floorboards, and the structure is rotting beneath our feet. The floors are soft, rotting and collapsing, the air is filled with mould, and every day we stay here, our health gets worse.
We are constantly sick, struggling with a huge list of issues as a direct result of, or secondary to mould related illness. With diagnosis of MCAS, CIRS, Histamine Intolerance, Allergic Rhinitis, Chronic Eczema, POTs, SVT, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic Migraines, hormone imbalance, IBS symptoms, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, Autoimmune Encephalitis in the form of PANS, and PANDAS, a relatively new condition in children. I have had to go to a private GP in the city. Paying out of pocket and traveling 2 hours to get any help or treatment for my family.
That still leaves us behind the curb financially. We are not going to get better until we get out into cleaner air. It is not safe for anyone to live and is a literal death trap. With the added risk of passing these issues onto my family member and her unborn baby, I have started the process of getting legal help to communicate with the owners. However, I have been informed that they can only try to get them to do the work to the house or take them to VCAT. They can’t control the outcome. With no chance they do work to the house, the realities we face are either immediate notice to vacate if the house is condemned, 14 days’ notice if they try to evict us, or 60 days’ notice to sell, which has been threatened every time we tried to press them for repairs in the past.
We urgently need to vacate this property and move somewhere safe before the damage to our health becomes permanent. Unfortunately, we have been dug into a hole trying to fund repairs here and there ourselves to survive through the winter without heating, summer without air conditioning, bathroom tiles to be able to use the bath and stop using the leaking shower, attempts were made to regrout the shower but it still leaks into the floors and walls, laundry repairs so the kids don’t fall through the floor, and covering up exposed asbestos. The costs of relocation including bond, rent in advance, the significant increase in weekly rent, moving expenses, garbage disposal to throw all of our belongings away and ongoing medical costs are more than we can manage right now. We are asking for help to raise $15,000 so that we can:
- Secure safe and clean accommodation
- Cover the upfront costs of moving into a new rental
- Replace some of the belongings that have been destroyed by mould
- Keep up with medical expenses and give my kids the best chance at a full recovery
Every contribution, no matter the size, brings us closer to safety. If you can’t donate, please consider sharing this campaign to help us reach more people.
Organizer
Matthew Sinapi
Organizer
Reservoir, VIC