Help Dana & Bill Save Their Home After Mold Crisis

Hi folks. Dana here, writing on behalf of Bill and myself and our four-legged family. We are in dire straits after Hurricane Milton destroyed our home, inside and out. We need your help if you possibly can. We've had to throw away nearly all our worldly possessions, and some of them we need to replace. Also, as of January 18th, we have spent $8800 on a hotel because our house has been uninhabitable and was making us very sick. We have homeowner's insurance that is supposed to cover $27,400 for "Additional Living Expense" in a situation like the one we're in, but we didn't expect negotiations to drag on such that we would have to pay all out of pocket. And now we are tapped out.

A GO FUND ME WORK IN PROGRESS

*Please note: This page is far from complete, but we need to get word out NOW and add more details and photos as we can. There is so much to do, and we have so little energy, but we want our friends to know what we're dealing with. Please bear with us and please check back often - we will add photos and videos as we can.

Just for starters, a couple of before and after pics ...

What happened??! We'll come back to that. First ...

WHO WE ARE

Bill Newton is a recently retired Executive Director of a non-profit consumer watchdog organization. He is a political commentator, a collector of vintage cameras, and he loves to shoot pool.

Dana Gatlin is a retired editor and semi-retired horse trainer and equestrian coach. My hobbies include wildlife photography, photo art, and animal communication.

Together we are a loving couple who appreciate life and its beauty. Both of us are animal lovers and caretakers who are dedicated to improving quality of life for as many as we can, however we can.

Freshly planted banana grove

OUR HOME - A PEACEFUL LITTLE PARADISE

We run a small non-profit rescue (501c3 - please inquire for more info), and we've spent the past 15 years creating a little haven for the many animals who have come into our lives.

Now that we're retired, we spend most of our time outdoors - growing fruit trees, photographing exotic birds on the creek, writing under our precious centenarian oak tree, spending time with our animal friends. It's peaceful here and our hope is to stay forever.

Mr. Chips helps Bill with the paddock fence

Poolside jungle where there used to be just dirt

Bougainvillea planted and thriving along the creek

Our wonderful gigantic mango tree

**************************************************

*** THEN ALONG CAME MILTON ***

October 9th, 2024 ... 13 days after Hurricane Helene

In both hurricanes, Dana stayed out with the ponies while Bill held down the fort inside, keeping the dogs and cat with him.

During Milton, he had a new job - managing the water pouring into the office through a hole created by a tile blown off the roof.

Dana managed to catch some daylight videos in lesser winds

Here are two that show the 130-year-old grandfather oak tree in the neighbor's yard.

https://youtu.be/tYLqSuN4GQI?si=kUN6-esIR6crfz24

A little later,

https://youtu.be/J9spzNphPLs?si=HbHLezW8DefG_dai

Somewhere around midnight, the neighbor's giant oak tree fell over into our yard, crushing our fruit trees and filling the yard with more tree than you can imagine. Trunk and limbs everywhere, and so many branches ...

Half of the main trunk, and limbs and branches large and small

Our mature mango and avocado trees were crushed

There were branches everywhere

and there still are

Most of the 6' privacy fence and all the outbuildings were mostly or totally destroyed, including the carport/barn, the storage areas, and three gazebos. As much as we miss them and need them, these are actually the least of our worries.

The paddock area was mostly spared, thank God!

More photos and videos coming ... from a few days to three months later. Sadly, not much difference between them. Here is the most current, seeking a workable campsite ...

Shocking as the yard damage was,

what happened inside was far worse. Our sturdy old tile roof lost a single tile and water flooded in - enough water to fill a few large storage containers even as Bill was bailing out by the bucket.

WATER DAMAGE LEADS TO MOLD

and MOLD is like FIRE, only INVISIBLE

The water damage quickly led to high levels of invisible mold, which was later tested and shown to be of the toxic varieties. Finally we realized what it was that made both of us very sick before we even knew it was a thing.

This is actually the main reason we need help. It's not just about mold remediation and making our house livable again, but our health is severely compromised. We are still very weak, and we just can't do all this alone.

About our health:

BILL: Ten days after the hurricane, Bill became so weak he couldn't stand. I called 911, and the EMTs wasted no time getting him to the ER. We believe he was septic; we know he had a raging infection internally.

He stayed in the hospital for four days, and was then moved to an in-patient rehab facility, where he stayed for four weeks. He is currently doing out-patient physical therapy and slowly regaining his strength.

DANA: While Bill was gone, I stayed home and did my best to deal with seemingly endless phone calls, applications, and appointments. Our insurance company sent an adjuster, a roof company to put a tarp over the damaged area, an air quality company, and an engineer. Meanwhile, I met with roofing companies and tree removal companies for estimates. My gazebo office of many years was crushed, so I set up temporary quarters in the front yard, as I have always preferred to work outside. However, I continued to sleep in our bedroom, not realizing that the water damage in "just the office" was spreading spores throughout the house. BIG MISTAKE. As days went by, my cough and headaches worsened, and I lost my voice almost completely. Everything ached, and it became harder and harder to function.

I often slept right through my alarm and woke to find I had slept fourteen hours. Or sometimes 16, or 17. I was treated for a UTI, but I didn't think that explained the intense fatigue and shortness of breath. I was fairly certain I had pneumonia. My doctor seemed to think so too. A chest x-ray and follow-up CT scan revealed it was not pneumonia, but I had a new diagnosis: Interstitial lung disease. Yikes! However, Bill was gone, and there were dogs, ponies, chickens, and a cat to care for, and more scheduled appointments with inspectors, so I carried on as well as I could. I honestly don't know how I got through those days.

The insurance company had sent an air quality inspector, but refused to tell me the results of their tests until 3 weeks had passed. When I learned of the extreme levels of toxicity, I knew I had to leave. I understood that the insurance company was still in the process of gathering all the information needed to approve our claim and that delays were to be expected, but we had $27K included in our policy for alternate living expenses, so the search for a pet-friendly hotel began.

Bill was scheduled to be released from the rehab on November 23rd I was aware of the dangers of his returning home and being re-exposed, so I booked a room starting on the 22nd and moved in to get things ready for him. I had been advised by experts NOT to bring anything from the house, so I bought each of us a couple sets of clothing and took the dogs to be bathed.

THE SHOCKER - INSURANCE DENIAL

After many weeks of back and forth, our homeowner's insurance denied our claim, stating that the damage was not caused by the storm. Were they joking???!!!!

Turning to FEMA, we learned that FEMA takes 60 days to process all the documents they require AFTER the insurance denial letter is sent to them.

Meanwhile, the toxic mold has spread throughout the walls and ceiling and our house is now COMPLETELY UNINHABITABLE.

According to several estimates, it's going to cost close to $100K to get rid of the mold and replace the roof, the walls and the ceilings.

This estimate does not include the tree and debris removal, nor the replacement of our outbuildings and privacy fence. YIKES!

IT COULD BE WORSE

We know there are others who have bigger problems, especially now that these horrific fires are devastating so many in California!

No doubt we ALL have friends there who are also losing everything. Therefore, we hate to even ask for help.

But the thought of losing our home - and our little sanctuary for animals in need - is more than we can handle. If you are possibly in a position to help us at all, we are enormously grateful!

PLEASE HELP US MAKE OUR HOUSE LIVABLE AGAIN

There are many steps along the way, and we will update this list with more specifics and estimates as soon as we can.

For now, our most critical needs:

MORE TO COME!

It's been THREE months. We are overwhelmed and exhausted and we haven't even begun to seek help for the mold toxicity affecting our memory and strength and immune system. But we want you to have the full picture of what this struggle is like, so we will update.

Meanwhile, please know that anything you are inspired and able to contribute will help us get our home and our lives back, and we are grateful beyond words. Thank you with all our hearts!

Much love,

Bill & Dana

and our four-legged friends