Help Jeudi Johnson Save Her Home and Independence

I am Jeudi Johnson, (aka Judy Ann Prange birth name, and Denver C. Davis's widow; also Peter Johnson's widow). Neither of them left me insurance or any way to make a living again. There was no planning, no children from either husband, and Denver was so ill the last 20 years I was his caregiver. But I was always a survivor. I wasn't worried about myself, and being with a man that took care of me as much as I took care of him, we were a team for 40 years. Last Friday would have been our 45th anniversary, so I fell into the grieving widow hole again until a cousin of mine suggested I try this site. I am now 75 years young and forget how old I am until I hurt myself doing daily chores. Then when I have to sit and think about what I can do, it comes to me that I need help. A lot of help.

I have a 2-acre property on Hawaii Island, known as the biggest subdivision with paved roads on the Big Island. The other one is Puna, where the volcano actually flows and has destroyed so much. This property has an unblockable view of the coastline, and the poor sections are blocked by good neighbors' homes. It is fenced and has two gates, one by the 2-car garage and another one on the lower acre where my "she shed" was built (not permitted and not completed). My one-bedroom home was built as a two-bedroom and converted to one before we bought it. It has 2 bathrooms and a huge walk-in closet, plus the great room has a giant walk-in pantry. Denver remodeled the entire house with new floors, new cabinets, and a custom countertop storage work area. I cooked a lot. It has drywall added with a finish carpenter adding wood window framing wherever he wanted. It was gorgeous, and we downsized from a 2700 square foot home to this 1020 square foot home, so he also redid the electrical and some plumbing. He also made both front and rear decks larger. The home and 2-car garage are permitted, as well as what is now my craft room/guest quarters, as it has its own bathroom and kitchenette. It has a laundry room, and he added his studio and my small office, which is only entered by one door. It is at a nice 2300-foot elevation, which is really nice during the summer and only cold for a few weeks during January to March. Cold being 50-60 at night and in the 70-80s during the day. 2300 feet is high enough to not worry about the tsunami threats we get sometimes.

So, the problem is my Denver was sick, and during Covid, he had to demand no one come over that wasn't vaccinated. By the time Covid ended, I had lost the majority of our clients. So, we had no backup worker besides him. When he really started getting worse and then almost dying every two years, I also started falling down and breaking my ankles. I finally realized I couldn't keep up with him any longer. I had been the other hand for so much of our 40 years, we had a hard time adjusting to me being a housewife. I had been a realtor for over 30 years, but I didn't do well in the new location. I used to teach ethics at the Board of Realtors in Kailua Kona and was the Executive Officer for a good part of that time.

I now need help doing everything, so the place needs maintenance and I need to be able to pay folks to clean and clear up the mess the winds have left me. There is a lot more to this story, but the foreclosure is getting very real. I need help and money to pay for the help. I have a small guest studio in the garage and two offices that could be used as bedrooms, but I have had nothing but problems renting to local folks.

I have two dogs, a 6-year-old border collie heeler mix and a larger 65-pound rescue boy. Both my babies, so it has been safer. The rescue dog loves his older sister and me a bit too much, but it means I sleep well at night. If this works, either I will be able to sell or find someone who wants to build an ADU (additional dwelling unit or two). I can get permits for 2 on two acres, but I don't have the money to do it. But, it can be done, and with the two dogs and fences, we can protect the materials and give the workers a place to sleep and shower while working here. It will take some doing to clear out the old tents and stuff ruined inside them, but a crew and a roll-off would do the trick. I am a poor widow that needs help to keep my home that was remodeled to age in place. I still use my wheelchair to move groceries and water bottles, yes, and that 50-pound bag of dog food I get from Costco. I do use my ramp and grab bars that were installed before I started breaking my ankles. I need an influx of cash to stop the foreclosure and get back in shape, plus the deferred maintenance brought back up to speed. Gutters and the water system have been neglected, and of course, paint is needed in Hawaii at least every 7-10 years. So, I have a 3.5% mortgage, and the house and garage are insured. But without renting out rooms, I can't afford the mortgage and insurance any longer. So, let's see what we can do to make it work. I don’t have long before they pursue the foreclosure and since my credit score is now too low to get a HELOC loan, I have equity so foreclosure would only be good for the mortgage company. I don’t want to give up my dogs so housing for seniors wouldn’t allow that. Please help.