My name is Ellie and my husband, Reeve, and I are currently living in a situation that’s not the best. The house down the street was stolen from, our mailbox keeps getting vandalized, someone knocked a hole in the side of our house, and the other week, someone was shot three times for road rage two blocks over. Not too long ago, the neighborhood behind us had a police chase where the person barricaded themselves in their home for hours and finally surrendered, where they uncovered hundreds of stolen guns from an armory. A little before that, a house I used to walk the dog by had the man hole up inside the house and hold his wife prisoner in a hostage situation before cops had finally convinced him to give up.

Almost every night, we hear a gunshot or car accident near the busy intersection, and we are only a short walk from the higher crime area of town. I no longer feel safe in my neighborhood without my husband if I’m outside, and I’m terrified to let my dog out or even start a family here.

We have finally gotten on top of debt and started paying off things, and now we were looking to take on our student loans, but new health issues have come out for me including an autoimmune/autoinflammatory disease, which I’m currently in the process of getting diagnoses and treatment for, which is costly. This old house is built in the 40s and doesn’t have proper insulation, heating/air, a proper door, etc. it’s taking months to get my landlord to fix it, and while I know we can take him to court over it, it’s cheaper and easier to move.

The stress of the area and the inability to be safe even going outside, coupled with the health issues and this house have caused us to turn to the community for some help. I’ve always been one that I put my head down, grit through it, and work hard to make it happen. I have three jobs right now and we are still struggling, even with Reeve’s job at the plant.

We are just trying to raise money for the down payment on a home of our own. If you feel led to help, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, but please, take care of yourself first. Please make sure you are financially stable. Just sharing is a huge help.

The zip code is the code of the capital of the state I live in and not my actual zip code for privacy reasons.