Help Alana, Mike & Gordie Keep A Roof Overhead
We are a family of three facing homelessness in Winnipeg. I’m Alana, my husband is Mike and our big puppo Gordie is our chonkiest best friend. If you don’t know us personally, I’m a freelance artist and Mike is a housekeeper in the motel we’re currently living in. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in March 2017, had a total thyroidectomy in May 2017 and radiation in October 2018. I was recently told that the radiation has stopped working and the levels monitored in my bloodwork are rising again. I’ll be finding out more about the next round of radiation in June, we’re all hoping to delay it until covid settles a little. Until this year I had so much more energy and could contribute a full time income but that’s changed a lot in the last few months, now a decent walk with Gordie has me lethargic for the rest of the day. Additionally I have some pretty intense back problems. I had a lower back (L5/S1) spinal fusion in October 2017 and spent a month in the hospital learning to walk again, on feet I can still barely feel. Last year I herniated another disc in the middle of my back and now struggle to stand or sit with my arms out in front of me for more than a few minutes, but like any Canadian with back issues will tell you, the MRI waitlist is genuinely excruciating...so we wait!
As I’m sure so many are experiencing right now, the CERB/EI I was receiving ran out of applicable hours and Mike makes too much money to qualify - $500-ish biweekly. We’ve been struggling to get by for a couple months now, and then recently we were completely blindsided by someone more than willing to take advantage of the desperate position we’re in. We aren’t able to say a lot publicly as it’s a legal matter going to court, but we can say a terrible person who befriended us last year stole and/or destroyed roughly 90% of our belongings - our only valuable assets. We lost approximately $10,000 of furniture, clothing, hundreds of video games, CDs, movies, game consoles, and nearly all our sentimental belongings; baby/family photos, grads, vacations, our wedding video and honeymoon photos on camcorders and memory cards, items from funerals, items from loved ones who passed, things we’ll never see or hold again because they’re rotting in a junkyard somewhere. When it’s settled in court, we won’t be in such a scary position, but right now we are.
We’ve been in the motel since December after fleeing from an apartment that continually caught fire in the walls and the landlord ignored it. That’s a whole other issue being dealt with. We’re now reaching the end of the offer so graciously made by Mike’s boss here, and as of May 1st we will officially be homeless unless we start paying regular rates, about twice the amount we’re struggling to pay now. Our intention was never to be here long-term but losing all our belongings was a massive setback. Our hope is to be able to stay one more month and give us enough time to get our tax return back. Normally a fast process but in our lost belongings was ID being replaced, Mike’s US immigration papers and our previous tax info, making filing Canadian and American taxes quite the jump through hoops. We’ve been put in a waiting game where the clock’s running out on the roof over our heads. It’s been suggested we move into a friend or family’s home, but Mike has no family here and everyone else either can’t have pets or already have pets Gordie doesn’t pass the vibe check with. It’s also been suggested we find Gordie a new home.
We adopted Gordie shortly after my cancer diagnosis in 2017 and he’s been my shadow every day since. He’s been by my side through the emotional and physical challenges of cancer, through losing and regaining my mobility, through me and Mike’s anxiety and depression and my BPD and PTSD. Gordie is the third member of our family, and it’s looking in his eyes that brings me here, writing to you.
if you’re able to help in any way, whether it’s donating or sharing this with others who can help too, leads on fatboy-friendly affordable housing - whatever you can do, we would be endlessly grateful. When our taxes are complete I can then reapply for Disability benefits and we’ll qualify for Manitoba Housing and/or Rent Assist, but for now we’re just trying to keep our heads above water, and anything you can do to help would be an amazing gift of light in all this darkness.
If you can’t donate, please know we appreciate your well-wishes and kindness - we know we’re not alone in struggling right now and would be grateful for every penny, every good vibe and every loving thought sent our way.
We’ll keep you updated!
All our love,
Alana, Mike & Gordie
