Injustice in Floyd, VA: Family displaced from home

Hardworking Mother and Four Children Seeking Help

 

Ohana - Alison, Osheana, Agile, Coral and Free

 

“If we fail to look after others when they need help, who will look after us?” - Buddha

 

Synopsis of Situation:

 

After a 17-year marriage, Alison’s husband deserted his family, opted out of custody and visitation rights, and now three years later (in 2022), sued for sole ownership of the family home and the vast majority of the shared land. (Land upon which the children were born and raised and Alison has lived for the past 19 years). Unfortunately, the judge’s hands were tied by certain elements of the law. Ultimately, he was only able to grant Alison 19 out of 85 acres and a smaller neglected building that once housed the family business, a bakery that she now operates alone. (Leaving them with no home).

Alison has spent countless hours and tens of thousands of dollars transitioning the bakery into the family house and has maintained it through several years by herself, having to quickly acclimate to being a single mother of four kids, who are now aged 10, 13, 15, & 18.

 

Upon this recent eviction, the path forward for the family is a complete restart, but Alison doesn’t have the funds to do so. She must relocate her bakery and her equipment to the smaller run down building and then build an entirely new home for herself and the kids to live in. This includes fixing up the bakery building, creating a new well, septic, driveway, and a completely new physical house.

 

This is why we ask for your help.

 

Quotation from Floyd County Judge:

 

There is considerable evidence that the defendant deserted his wife. In spite of her efforts to make the marriage work, the defendant instructed her to leave the marital home with the children on multiple occasions because he “needed space," and ultimately that he was “happier without them (wife and children) in his life.” Not only did the defendant willfully leave the marriage, but he did so in a manner that made it particularly hard on his wife and family. With the bakery being her primary source of income, he left the bakery without supplies and inventory, closed accounts and changed the telephone number. Only by the Herculean efforts of the plaintiff did the business and family survive. Based on the evidence presented, the Court finds that the defendant deserted his wife and awards her a divorce on the fault ground of desertion.

Very truly yours,

Floyd County Circuit Court Judge

 

Further Context:

 

The father of Alison’s children and her husband of 17 years has used a strategic legal position to acquire the family home and land. The father deserted his family, leaving Alison as the sole caretaker of the children and the land. Alison devoted 19 years of unpaid labor in the family owned bakery with the majority of the profits allocated to mortgage payments and the construction of a home that the husband now claims. After years of neglect, it is devastating that he will acquire the land and home that Alison has been tending and caring for, for the last two decades. Alison was hopeful for a manageable outcome but is depleted and exhausted, and with the verdict is overwhelmed with the amount of work she has yet ahead of her.

 

Conclusion:

 

Alison is reaching out for help. She is in financial crisis and must rebuild her bakery and a new home for her family. By gifting to Alison and her family, not only will it make it possible to rebuild their life, but it will reinvigorate them with the faith of resiliency, goodness and community.

If a financial donation is not possible, construction materials can also help. (If all one can do is pass this information on, then this is well enough).

 

May Love see them through this injustice.

Alison is a kind, loving human being.

Let's give her the support she needs please.

 

She is seeking $100,000 to navigate this transition with grace and ease. She will begin with rebuilding her bakery, then quickly embark on building a new home, septic, well, and driveway.

 

Thank you all for taking time to read. Let's all pass the love on to one another.

 

If you have access to building materials to share or have any suggestions or questions regarding this situation, you may contact Alison via the GoFundMe messaging feature.

 

Also by buying Alison's book (an inspiring adventure novel) entitled “The Neverending Beginning,” which she published in 2020 will be a way of  support.  The link to buy it is here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-neverending-beginning-alison-ohana/1140592750

 

“We open the wooden gate and step back out upon the rocky dirt road. My head spins with mysticism. However, my heart feels strong and reassured. I have just discovered my truth. My truth is simply passing on whom I have become through my 40 some years upon the Earth. The truth is simply listening to my heart and soul and, most importantly, proving the love and devotion that aches within. Whether I am a mother, a wife, a baker, a caretaker of the land, an adventurer, a surfer, a snowboarder, or simply Princess Ala, I shall follow through with being my best, believing in the very part of me that strives to fulfill my greater self.” ( - quotation from Alison's book).

 

HASEYA

 

Thank You.