Hi, my name is Alex but you might know me online as Ryn or Sol Birdguy, a dog stylist-turned-mailman, gay opossum ambassador, and Rivals 2 superfan. I'm hosting this campaign with my fellow queer friend of a decade Mel, a veterinary professional and artist.

She and I recently purchased a light fixer-upper home with plans to renovate it over time. It cost our entire savings but we had decided it was worth it to escape the cycle of increasing rent prices in Dallas. Things were looking up after I secured a job with much better hours and pay, however I recently broke my hand on the job, requiring two surgeries and about two months of recovery or possibly even more. The care and time off is covered by worker's compensation, but the weekly checks are barely enough to cover my half of the bills.

Ultimately the situation was manageable as I will be able to return to work after recovering, however as if the timing couldn't be any worse, our bathroom floor had caved in at the same time. There is very little I can do to assist Mel with this repair, financially or physically, and we needed to have the bathroom in good condition to welcome a friend of Mel's in need as a third housemate, so she reached out to a contractor for help. At first the materials and work seemed affordable: he charged $600 for the original job.

Once the contractor inspected the bathroom he determined that much more work would have to be completed due to unserviced water damage left unchecked for years by the previous home owner as well as some foundational work, which all contributed to the floor caving in in the first place. The final total came up to $2,835 for material and labor, which we agreed to pay after he had completed full demolition of the room and the plumbing repairs. While the price was steep for us, in the grand scheme it was a very good price for the amount of work getting done, and we agreed it was a worthy investment for the long-term health of the home.

Since payment, the contractor has not returned to the home, not ghosting us but saying every single day that he's going to come out to finish the job and refund the money until he finishes then never does, making up lies about what he is doing day by day but insisting he's on the way the entire day. Despite threats of legal action he continues to not return to the property or refund us, so while we are beginning that process, we are still out nearly $3000 and our only bathroom between the three people that are living here. They did put our toilet back in on the last day of demolition so we at least have that, but we do not have a tub or shower, or a floor for that matter. This has been an incredibly stressful time for us, losing our bathroom, me being out of work for an injury, and homing a friend in need and all during the holiday season, no less.

The goal of this fundraiser is to help us in purchasing the materials to finish the job on our own, hiring help for individual jobs we can't do on our own. Mel will be doing the bulk of the renovation and I will be helping where I can as I recover from surgery. We understand that times are hard so while we would be beyond grateful to recover the total amount lost, we would simply like to shower in our own home again.

On the final day before launching this campaign, it has now been over a week since the demolition of our bathroom. The contractor continues to make up excuses why he can't show up or why he can't refund the money. We will be starting the small claims process though it's entirely likely we will never see that money again. We would like to begin working on the bathroom, so any help that you can provide will be greatly appreciated.