Help Annalea Get Back On Her Feet
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Summary: Our friend Annalea has been buried under grief over the sudden deaths of her uncle, grandmother, and father, lost her job, suffered abuse at the hands of her ex-fiance and mother, and has been stranded away from her support system in Austin, TX with the end of her lease looming in the future with nowhere to go. We're asking for $7000 to get this incredible woman back on her feet, back to Chicago, and back to a sense of independence. Please donate anything that you can or share the link to your network in case her story resonates with your friends and family.
Annalea, we love you!
They say when it rains, it pours - and unfortunately, for our sweet friend Annalea Thompson, the last few years have been consistently pouring with tragedy. Annalea is one of the most courageous women we know - she’s smart, she’s hard-working, and she’s a fighter. But sometimes, even the strongest people need a little help from their circle.
In 2018, Annalea moved from Chicago to Austin for work - after nearly 7 years in Chicago, it was time for a change. She moved with the hopes of a fresh start. She took a promising job with a start-up as the Executive Assistant to the CEO and Operations Manager, found an apartment, and departed in October 2018. However, things didn’t exactly go as planned - the apartment she found was one built in new construction (previously, she’d never lived in a new build) - the first floor apartment she leased was flooded with the sewage of the three apartments above her own in November 2018, only a month after she moved. Many of her belongings were destroyed, and she was forced to live in a hotel off-site, covering the costs out of pocket, for nearly a month until she found a new place to live, all while dealing with insurance, the apartment complex, and having to take unexpected time off at a brand new job to handle it all. She found a new place, and successfully moved out; the experience was costly, time-consuming, and scary, but she made it through.
Unfortunately, things were about to get much worse. Within a little over a year's time, Annalea lost almost every family member she had on her father’s side - the side she grew up with and was the closest to - starting with her Uncle Bill, who lost his fight with Stage IV pancreatic cancer on March 25th 2019, after his surprise diagnosis in December 2018. His death was followed quickly in succession by her grandmother, Elsa Thompson, who passed away in a tragic house fire - a power line had fallen, and an active line had been sitting on the roof of her attached garage for 9.5 hours - repeated calls for help were made to the local power company by Elsa, neighbors, family and friends - but the company never showed up to help. The line atop the garage roof sparked a fire which quickly spread, and Elsa’s car exploded - the entire home was soon engulfed in flames, and she and her two cats, Willie Nelson, and Doris Day, tried to escape, but were unable to. They perished in the fire on May 25, 2019, two months to the day after Annalea’s Uncle Bill (also Elsa’s son) lost his battle to cancer. Elsa’s death hit Annalea especially hard - she considered her grandmother her best friend, and she considered Elsa’s home her own home - she had a room there, and spent every home visit staying there - in fact, she had just stayed there for two weeks in March, to spend time with Uncle Bill and the rest of the family after his grim diagnosis. After the fire, Annalea was primarily responsible for going through the house, recovering items, sorting her grandmother’s belongings, and closing down bills after her passing. Shortly after, Annalea noticed signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and continues to suffer presently from the trauma’s effects.
Like many, Annalea hoped for a fresh start in 2020 - a new decade, and hopefully a chance to move on from 2019’s devastation. Unfortunately, that chance did not come.
In early Spring, during the first wave of social distancing due to the coronavirus, Annalea ended her relationship with her toxic ex-fiance after he, in a string of abusive behaviors, broke into her apartment and threatened her. As a result of the breakup, Annalea felt free and ready for a new beginning - but this was met with the challenge of losing half of her financial support - she was then solely responsible for the rent and all bills.In a pre-COVID world, this would have been manageable for Annalea. Unfortunately, just a few weeks later, Annalea was laid off permanently due to the pandemic, alongside many others at her job.
Despite the challenges, Annalea was looking forward to moving on to new beginnings in a different place. In May of this year, Annalea reached out to her dad, Andy, who helped her through the stress of her breakup and her job loss.
He reassured her and helped her create a list of possibilities for her next move - she was feeling optimistic and hoping to move to Chicago soon to restart from square one.
Two days later, Andy suffered a fatal heart attack after returning from his morning run. He was 57.
It seems needless to say that between the deaths in her family, the ending of her relationship, and the loss of her job - Annalea has been through too much to handle in the last 16 months - and the sooner she gets that fresh start, the better. Annalea has expressed that after living in this combination of “immense sadness, fear, and grief” during these already terrifying times in the world, she just wants to come home. And so, friends old and new, we are asking for $7,000 to help move Annalea and her two cats back to Chicago.
We would immensely appreciate any/all assistance to raise dollars -- and support -- for this radiant young woman. Thank you for your time and stay safe.
Best,
Her Chicago gal pals.
Annalea, we love you!
They say when it rains, it pours - and unfortunately, for our sweet friend Annalea Thompson, the last few years have been consistently pouring with tragedy. Annalea is one of the most courageous women we know - she’s smart, she’s hard-working, and she’s a fighter. But sometimes, even the strongest people need a little help from their circle.
In 2018, Annalea moved from Chicago to Austin for work - after nearly 7 years in Chicago, it was time for a change. She moved with the hopes of a fresh start. She took a promising job with a start-up as the Executive Assistant to the CEO and Operations Manager, found an apartment, and departed in October 2018. However, things didn’t exactly go as planned - the apartment she found was one built in new construction (previously, she’d never lived in a new build) - the first floor apartment she leased was flooded with the sewage of the three apartments above her own in November 2018, only a month after she moved. Many of her belongings were destroyed, and she was forced to live in a hotel off-site, covering the costs out of pocket, for nearly a month until she found a new place to live, all while dealing with insurance, the apartment complex, and having to take unexpected time off at a brand new job to handle it all. She found a new place, and successfully moved out; the experience was costly, time-consuming, and scary, but she made it through.
Unfortunately, things were about to get much worse. Within a little over a year's time, Annalea lost almost every family member she had on her father’s side - the side she grew up with and was the closest to - starting with her Uncle Bill, who lost his fight with Stage IV pancreatic cancer on March 25th 2019, after his surprise diagnosis in December 2018. His death was followed quickly in succession by her grandmother, Elsa Thompson, who passed away in a tragic house fire - a power line had fallen, and an active line had been sitting on the roof of her attached garage for 9.5 hours - repeated calls for help were made to the local power company by Elsa, neighbors, family and friends - but the company never showed up to help. The line atop the garage roof sparked a fire which quickly spread, and Elsa’s car exploded - the entire home was soon engulfed in flames, and she and her two cats, Willie Nelson, and Doris Day, tried to escape, but were unable to. They perished in the fire on May 25, 2019, two months to the day after Annalea’s Uncle Bill (also Elsa’s son) lost his battle to cancer. Elsa’s death hit Annalea especially hard - she considered her grandmother her best friend, and she considered Elsa’s home her own home - she had a room there, and spent every home visit staying there - in fact, she had just stayed there for two weeks in March, to spend time with Uncle Bill and the rest of the family after his grim diagnosis. After the fire, Annalea was primarily responsible for going through the house, recovering items, sorting her grandmother’s belongings, and closing down bills after her passing. Shortly after, Annalea noticed signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and continues to suffer presently from the trauma’s effects.
Like many, Annalea hoped for a fresh start in 2020 - a new decade, and hopefully a chance to move on from 2019’s devastation. Unfortunately, that chance did not come.
In early Spring, during the first wave of social distancing due to the coronavirus, Annalea ended her relationship with her toxic ex-fiance after he, in a string of abusive behaviors, broke into her apartment and threatened her. As a result of the breakup, Annalea felt free and ready for a new beginning - but this was met with the challenge of losing half of her financial support - she was then solely responsible for the rent and all bills.In a pre-COVID world, this would have been manageable for Annalea. Unfortunately, just a few weeks later, Annalea was laid off permanently due to the pandemic, alongside many others at her job.
Despite the challenges, Annalea was looking forward to moving on to new beginnings in a different place. In May of this year, Annalea reached out to her dad, Andy, who helped her through the stress of her breakup and her job loss.
He reassured her and helped her create a list of possibilities for her next move - she was feeling optimistic and hoping to move to Chicago soon to restart from square one.
Two days later, Andy suffered a fatal heart attack after returning from his morning run. He was 57.
It seems needless to say that between the deaths in her family, the ending of her relationship, and the loss of her job - Annalea has been through too much to handle in the last 16 months - and the sooner she gets that fresh start, the better. Annalea has expressed that after living in this combination of “immense sadness, fear, and grief” during these already terrifying times in the world, she just wants to come home. And so, friends old and new, we are asking for $7,000 to help move Annalea and her two cats back to Chicago.
We would immensely appreciate any/all assistance to raise dollars -- and support -- for this radiant young woman. Thank you for your time and stay safe.
Best,
Her Chicago gal pals.
Co-organisers (5)
Allison Kelly
Organiser
Virginia Beach, VA
Annalea Thompson
Beneficiary
Alisar El-Farmaoui
Co-organiser
Daniella Caruso
Co-organiser
Jesse Huyler
Co-organiser
Claire OConnor
Co-organiser