Give Sue a Home for the Winter

Hi, my name is Ane and I am fundraising to help my mom, Sue.

My mom is a survivor! From a young age, this self-reliant woman worked full-time, often 70-hour weeks, clamming, delivering groceries to the elderly, cleaning houses, delivering newspapers, and farming. Everyone who knows Sue knows she is the hardest worker with an incredible work ethic. She raised six children (including me!) despite the daunting hardships posed by poverty.

In January, my mom lost her husband, Bob. He went out to get the mail and was hit by a truck in front of their trailer. A few months earlier, Sue had lost her job. Then another setback hit; Sue's landlord sold the trailer that Sue and Bob had lived in for nearly a decade. My mom was told she had 30 days to move out.

Without an income, my mom decided her best option was to buy a canvas yurt on Amazon. With her yurt and a small gardening shed, Sue set up camp on a small plot of land her children own in Montville, Maine. Over the next few months, Sue channeled her grief into creating a stunning garden memorial to her late husband. My mom grew poppies, sunflowers, basil, tomatoes, kale, spinach, squash, and beets. All summer, Sue tended her garden and delivered the vegetables of her labor to her friends and our family so that they could enjoy fresh vegetables all summer.

Our family will help Sue winterize her shed so that she will have a habitable place to stay when the snow starts to fall, the winds pick up, and the temperature drops in Maine. My family hopes to raise $8,000 for our aunt and family to winterize the shed. Our aunt built her own home and has been helping our mom establish her living environment all summer. With suitable investments, we are confident we could make the shed livable in the winter climate. We would use the funds to buy and install spray foam insulation, drywall, a heater, carpet, a compostable toilet, a sink, a double-paned window, pour a concrete slab, and a sleeping bag made for frigid climates.

We helped my mom set up her shed and her yurt, which worked wonderfully during the summer. Our family hopes to save enough to buy Sue a tiny home someday. But for now, winter is at Sue's doorstep. Any contribution will help ensure that my mom has a warm shed to retreat to when the long winter sets in.

To get this project started, we aim to be halfway funded by November 1, 2022; to complete the project before temperatures in Maine fall below 42°F, we hope to be fully funded by December 1, 2022.