I am a single father of two, living in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I work in social services at a vibrant and progressive faith community in Minneapolis.

As shared with friends on social media, here is why I am raising funds:

Back in October, I posted a bit of a car tribute on social media - our ever faithful 2019 Honda CRV named Horton had passed a significant milestone - 300,000 miles - with no issues whatsoever. A reliable and faithful companion on many family trips and and a reliable partner in doing good in our community.

At the beginning of February, that ended. I received some devastating news. Horton’s turbo - an integrated part of how Honda built our car's engine to provide great performance at the same time as outstanding fuel economy, failed catastrophically. Here’s the note from our repair shop:

“Further inspect turbocharger- signs of impeller shaft bearing wear- missing nut and been grinding in housing. Turbocharger needs replacement. would recommend additional checks into other engine components/replace oil feed line filter during repair.”

As it was explained to me, this means a nut inside the turbo came loose and was spinning around in the unit, damaging other components all the while spraying tiny bits of metal around this part of the engine as it wore down.

Until this repair is made, Horton is not drivable.

Because of the complexity of this part and the signifiant labor involved in replacing it, this repair will cost approximately $6000.

This is money I simply do not have, nor do members of my family.

My repair shop already applied for financial assistance through a charity that helps with emissions related repairs, in hopes they would approve this, given the vital nature of this component. Our application was turned down because it didn’t meet the requirements of the program - which we expected but still hoped that just perhaps…

And my income is of such that I make too much to qualify for work at a wonderful Minneapolis garage that offers low-cost car repair.

I know this is a terrible time to ask more of you all. So many of you are already giving generally to places doing great work in Minnesota given our current occupation by Federal forces - and I am so thankful for that.

But if there is any way you are able to contribute to a fund to help get Horton back on the road, it would be so appreciated.

And I will commit to donating 100% of any money contributed, over and above the repair costs, to a fund that will help pay rent for those sheltering in place because of the current situation in Minneapolis.

Thank you all.

Photo note: From July 2019 when we first purchased Horton!