Help Jodie and Her Kids Get Running Water Back

My name is Jodie, and I really need your help to get water back in my home. My kids and I have been without running water since Thursday, 12/7/23 at about 11:15 AM. The well that had serviced my house for decades with ample water to spare suddenly went completely dry. There was no way to expect or plan for this crisis. And zero water has come through my faucets or my toilets since then. My kids and I did our best before this to use water wisely, but I definitely took for granted being able to turn on my faucet and get fresh clean water, being able to flush a toilet, and having water fill up my washing machine and dishwasher. Showers at friends’ houses are now a luxury. We are in desperate need of a new well.

For those who don’t know me, I am a single disabled mom to two fabulous kids, and I have a counseling practice in my town of Westminster, MD. I have helped many kids and families with their mental health struggles over the past 24 years. I also have multiple autoimmune disorders and other chronic health conditions. So not only do I advocate for mental health but also help to spread awareness of the needs of physically disabled people in my community. At the same time I’m also advocating for the special needs of my own kids. Autism, ADHD, depression, and anxiety has meant I spend a lot of time managing and advocating for my kids at home, in our community, and at their schools.

All of my health conditions cause me to live with significant chronic pain, mobility impairments, and debilitating levels of fatigue. My struggles with mobility and my need to often use a wheelchair make regular daily life difficult. But now added to that I’m having to lug big buckets of water around my house when my teenage son isn’t home, boil water and hand wash dishes, travel to generous friends’ homes for showers and hope that I can navigate their bathrooms, and the hardest one – dumping a few gallons of water into the back of our toilets multiple times a day, holding down the handle, and then hoping and praying all the grossness flushes out. All this added stress is further exacerbating my health issues. As part of my chronic conditions, I live with ulcerative colitis and an overactive bladder making access to a bathroom many times a day super important. This means I’m now completing this flushing toilets process many many times a day. You get the picture. Life is even more difficult and exhausting now than it ever was before. All while still working my full-time job, caring for my kids, and all the tasks that come along with daily family life. I am desperate to have running water back in my house.

As a person who is used to helping others, I have a very difficult time asking for help for myself. But desperate times call for challenging things, and here I am asking for your help. Wells are very expensive, and I have no funds to build a new well. For the last year and 1/2 I have been trying very hard to get freedom from a marriage that sought to destroy my own mental health and led to significant and life-threatening health issues. I am working hard to save my life. Fighting for my freedom though has been a very difficult and costly road. Other than paying bills for myself and the kids, all of my money has been spent fighting for my well-being and my future. I am also in the process of trying to refinance my home – my current home is set up perfectly for all my disabilities and I will not be able to find another home to meet my needs, especially in this current housing market. I am hoping that I will have the freedom to refinance and be the sole owner of my home in the near future. Therefore, I am not able to take out another loan to pay for my well – even if I could afford it. Qualifying for a refinance is going to be difficult enough for me on a limited single income, and taking out a loan now would be way too risky. Dipping into my retirement savings would also cause a lot of complications, and I need to avoid that at all costs. In short, I have no emergency funding options.

In addition, my son is headed off to college next year and will be running there on the cross country and track teams. At this time next year he’ll be running indoor track for his college while wrapping up his first semester. I am so very proud of him. But college is super expensive, and I discovered about a year ago how little was contributed to his college savings fund. My mortgage payment is going to more than double with my refinance due to the increased interest rates. And my savings is minimal due to all the legal fees incurred in the last 18 months. What little bit I had saved has now already gone to a plumber who installed a new water pump for the current well. At the time it was thought that the pump had gone bad – which it had – and that once that was replaced, I would get my water back. My money is gone, and that pump is now useless. After replacing the pump, the bigger problem that caused the nonworking pump was discovered – the worst case scenario: a dry well.

I am looking at a cost of about $20,000 to get a new well and have running water back. This is completely out of reach for me. So here I am hoping to experience the generosity of others towards me and my kids. Receiving generosity and having running water back would be the very best present I could ever ask for this holiday season. Would you help me purchase a new well?