Save our home Of 20 Years!!!!
Where to start… I guess over six years ago I developed severe arthritis in my legs and knees; it was so bad that I was barely able to walk. As a result, I had to retire from the Carpenters Union. My wife Cyndi was able to get a part-time job teaching cosmetology, in addition to working full-time as a stylist.
Our son graduated from high school and was accepted to the Golf Academy of America in Carlsbad. We promised him that no matter what happened, we would make sure he was able to graduate from college. Not only did he graduate, but he received the Presidents Award, the highest award given by the school. In fact, only he and one other student received this award.
While our son was in college, Cyndi lost her teaching job, which left us struggling to afford our son’s college tuition, in addition to making our mortgage payments and make ends meet.
I guess that’s when it got worse – while our son was still in college, I had to endure four major surgeries in about a 3 ½ year time period. This put a lot of stress my family. One of those surgeries was a partial knee replacement. The second surgery however was a total knee replacement on my left knee which didn’t go well. The doctor ended up having to implant a hinge replacement instead of a regular replacement in my knee because the bone around my knee had completely deteriorated. Then, about six months later, while working with the US Kids Golf Association, I slipped and fell and tore the entire patella out of my left knee. This resulted in major emergency surgery, and as a result, I was bedridden for quite some time. Then another six months later, I started losing the feeling in my hands. It was so bad that my hands would get completely numb and cold. Eventually the pain went up into my arms and shoulders, and I lost the feeling in both shoulders, and experienced excruciating pain in my neck. After going through many medical tests, including MRIs and CT scans, they determined that I needed neck surgery which involved removing the vertebrae from my neck, and then implanting two rods which would give my spinal column room to move.
Because I had to go through these numerous surgeries, we fell behind on our house payments. We talked to Wells Fargo and tried to work out a plan to get caught up on our payments. They refused to help and told us to contact Saveyourhome.org. We contacted this organization and they offered to pay $50,000 to Wells Fargo, but Wells Fargo refused to accept this payment since it was about $700 short (and they would not let us pay the $700).
My wife and I are both very involved in our community and in our church. I myself still work with the US Kids Foundation for the greater Los Angeles area, and I enjoy it very much. In addition, over the last 20 years we’ve been lucky to have adopted eight wonderful dogs. Some have passed on, but we still have four wonderful little dogs with us.
We’ve owned our house for over 20 years, and this is our retirement. We don’t want to lose our nest egg to a bank as a result of all of these tragedies we’ve endured. We have suffered enough and just want to live the rest of our lives in our home. We are in dire need of assistance, and would be devastated if we lost our house.
In order to save our home, we need to raise about $75,000 by February 20, 2017. At this moment, the house is on the market. If it is not sold by February 24, 2017, Wells Fargo will foreclose and we will be homeless. And we are praying to God that this doesn’t happen.
Thank you for your time and patience, and for finding it in your hearts to help us. May God bless each and every one of you tenfold for your kindness and consideration. There have been many times in our lives and in our marriage where my wife and I have stepped out in faith and God has come through for us. And that’s what we are hoping for now – a miracle.
Sincerely,
Michael and Cyndi Michaelis