Pending Complete Family Homelessness
Donation protected
Edited to add, September 2019: My most recent update explains it in further detail, but basically at this point unless we can come up with 230k within the next 45 days to buy it outright, purchasing it isn’t possible. We could easily keep up with mortgage payments if approved for a loan, but our income and credit levels don’t qualify. If we can’t buy, we need to be prepared to move out by the end of the year. There is nowhere else to go though, the housing market here is increasingly for rich transplants buying and not long term native renters. The only way we could find a place willing to take a chance on us would be to move out of the area or state and that would mean leaving our jobs, connections, resources, and health insurance (I’m personally on the state health plan and need medicine and quarterly treatments for my chronic illness).
I know that is a long shot but my mother says we can’t expect the universe to provide if we don’t ask, so here goes nothing. If we can raise the full amount or even just a large fraction of it, maybe we’ll have a better chance to stay here. We’d stand a better chance of getting approved for a loan if we had a bigger amount to put as a down payment/substantial collateral. I just want my family to have a home. I don’t want to be homeless ever again.
Original post:
I can't believe I'm here again.
WHAT'S THE PROBLEM/WHAT BROUGHT US HERE?
A little over two years ago, I filmed a video and made a GoFundMe campaign to help my family survive homelessness. We are extremely low income and live in an area with severe affordable housing crisis. Despite knowing for several months that we would have to move, we weren't able to find anyone willing to rent to us before the deadline and spent the majority of Winter 2016/2017 in between parking lots and motel rooms. We were and are so grateful to everyone who helped us during that time and that have become great confidantes and lifelong friends.
When we finally secured a beautiful house with a kind and thoughtful landlord, we hoped our problems were over. However, over the past two years we've seen budget cuts to our housing assistance program result in an increase in our rent multiple times, but we've preserved and worked harder to try and stay in our home.
Part of the requirements of the organization that helps us afford rent is yearly housing inspections. Over the past month my family has been doing everything we can to make sure our house is clean and up to code. On Saturday, we had our inspection and we mostly passed (our landlord wants to come back in two weeks to check up on some minor things), but we also found out our Landlord's company is selling all the Section 8 houses they own in our area within the next six months.
This is not a major surprise as our city, Tacoma, has been inheriting the gentrification and housing crisis of technopolis Seattle and our neighborhood (right across the street from a brand new community center and twenty feet from a tennis court and public park) would be a very valuable ticket for wealthy people looking to relocate from urban Seattle. Part of the reason we became homeless in the first place is because it's much more a buyer's market than a renter's right now.
The fair market price of our house is around 300k.
The reason they are selling is because they can’t afford to keep up with the increasingly ridiculous rule changes to stay compatible with Section 8 in every home every year. For example, when we moved into our home two years ago, most of the doors had small patches on them to cover cosmetic damage. This does nothing to alter the effectiveness of the door, nor is it any sort of fire or other hazard. Section 8 was completely fine with this when we moved in. Now, in order to comply with sudden rule changes, our landlord would be required to replace every single door with any patch or cosmetic damage on it not only in our house but every other Section 8 rented home they own. That is just an example of a single rule change.
Like I said above, these same rule changes and budget cuts have also caused our rent to rise multiple times in the short time we have lived here. This was literally my biggest concern after Trump was elected, that changes to nationwide government housing assistance would eventually make me homeless again. People were already resistant to renting to low income renters two years ago because of the wider housing crisis, with these rule changes causing even more landlords to stop working with Section 8, we are terrified we may not find anyone willing to take a chance on us if we can't stay here.
WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?
Our landlord is an incredibly kind man and told my mother that he would do everything in his power to try and help us buy our home. He said he'd sell it to us at a fair price and even help pay the closing costs for us. He would rather keep us in our home than get a potentially bigger price putting it on the market. But we'd still have to get a loan for a mortgage and improve our credit. He thinks she stands a good chance at a decent loan as a veteran, especially if my other adult brother and myself co-sign.
I have the longest and strongest credit history out of the three of us (my brother doesn't have any credit and my mom went through a bankruptcy shortly after we got our home, she's been slowly rebuilding her credit since). However, I have around $6,000 in debt on several credit cards from expenses from the last time we were homeless. I put lots of our living and moving costs on my cards and have been suffocating under the minimum payments to stay current ever since. My mom has been helping me keep up with these payments, as they are higher than the limited income I receive ($100 a month through Patreon).
If we have any chance of buying our home, I need to improve my credit immediately. It's the first step to buying our home. It's also the best thing to do if we can't buy our home, because if we become homeless again, outstanding debt won't help.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
My brother is working full time. My mother has fibromyalgia and is on medication for blood pressure and a few other disabilities related to her age (she's 62), she tried working two jobs this winter to help us stay afloat but ended up in the hospital because her body couldn't take it.
I am disabled. I have nuerofibromitosis, a genetic condition that causes chronic migraines and tumor growth. I have had a few tumors removed, but my migraines make it impossible for me to drive or hold a typical 9-5 because I have to work with a schedule that can be flexible around my healthy hours. This is why I have put everything I have into building my YouTube channel and writing career into something profitable.
I have a pretty decent following on YouTube (3,000 subscribers) but can't currently film because I had to take my DSLR to the pawn shop to help pay bills and expenses for this inspection (It'll cost around $500 to get it out). I have a literary agent (Elana Roth Parker) and I hope to soon have a market worthy manuscript, but all of my time and energy has been focused on prepping for the house and other financial stressors.
I was planning on maybe doing a smaller GoFundMe in a few weeks for the cost of partial dentures ($600). Last year I had a tooth infection that cost me the chewing ability of my right side and has caused a lot of medical issues and daily pain. It hurts to eat and talk without these teeth, which is part of the reason I've taken an extended absence from my YouTube channel. This new crisis, however, is more important.
I've cancelled an upcoming road trip with my mom to YALLWEST (a young adult book festival) because it just doesn't seem financially responsible to spend money on a trip, even if it is a networking and business expense, when we have this huge issue to worry about. I'm really sad about this, but it was my idea. I wouldn't be able to enjoy the trip thinking about how much deeper in the hole it puts us.
I hope, and my family hopes, that if I focus all of my healthy energy on my novel that maybe I'll be able to sell it and that income could help us keep the house. However, it's highly unlikely I'll have a submission ready manuscript before the deadline of when they'll sell. Plus, it's not in my control if, when, or how much a book of mine could sell for.
A few months ago I launched a writer focused planner company, and I hope to grow that too into a more fruitful source of income but again that would rely on marketing on my YouTube channel and will take time.
HOW CAN WE HELP?
I'm asking for help paying off my homeless debt so I can either co-sign with my mother for a loan or be in a better position to face the housing market again. I've also included the costs of getting my camera out of the pawn shop and getting my partial dentures because both are crucial to my only immediate source of income (YouTube video ad revenue and Patreon). The debt is obviously the first priority. Anything above this would go towards a potential down payment (a decent chunk down would highly increase our chances of getting a loan).
I am devastated to be here again. I feel like all I've ever done online is share my sob story and fall in and out of a pit I've scraped my skin raw to climb out of. I said in my first video about being homeless that I was afraid that crisis would wipe me off the map of the publishing community, because poverty is so time consuming and exhausting I just can't prioritize my creative passions over trying to survive. I still feel like I'm barely holding on.
I never felt like this was truly my home and have had nightmares about eviction ever since we moved in. I never allowed myself to feel like this could truly be mine, that I could be safe and now I feel vindicated in the absolute worst way.
I just want to write, film videos, and geek out about Taylor Swift with my friends. All my life I've lived on the teetering edge, dreaming about a life with permanent roots the way my classmates dreamt about travel and independence. All I've ever wanted was to feel like I was stable enough to plan a future, but all I've ever done is try my hardest to stay afloat in the present.
I hate poverty.
If you are uncomfortable donating via GoFundMe, or just would like another way to contribute:
Patreon: http://patreon.com/lilymeade
Ko-fi: http://ko-fi.com/lilymeade
PayPal:
Venmo: @Lily-Meade-1
--
My mom wrote a poem about this, she asked me to include it here:
This is our house.
It's a very nice place to be,
our family,
We live here,
We make a really great team.
There was a time not so long ago
when we didn't have a home.
Living in a beautiful house...
Was just a future potential dream.
This is where we live,
We currently pay rent each month.
We again are at a crossroads,
Either move out
dream of finding a new home.
Or securing it with our own mortgage loan.
We have about 8 months
To figure this all out.
My heart says it will be ours
I will stay positive and push out all my doubts.
@writingtogrow
I know that is a long shot but my mother says we can’t expect the universe to provide if we don’t ask, so here goes nothing. If we can raise the full amount or even just a large fraction of it, maybe we’ll have a better chance to stay here. We’d stand a better chance of getting approved for a loan if we had a bigger amount to put as a down payment/substantial collateral. I just want my family to have a home. I don’t want to be homeless ever again.
Original post:
I can't believe I'm here again.
WHAT'S THE PROBLEM/WHAT BROUGHT US HERE?
A little over two years ago, I filmed a video and made a GoFundMe campaign to help my family survive homelessness. We are extremely low income and live in an area with severe affordable housing crisis. Despite knowing for several months that we would have to move, we weren't able to find anyone willing to rent to us before the deadline and spent the majority of Winter 2016/2017 in between parking lots and motel rooms. We were and are so grateful to everyone who helped us during that time and that have become great confidantes and lifelong friends.
When we finally secured a beautiful house with a kind and thoughtful landlord, we hoped our problems were over. However, over the past two years we've seen budget cuts to our housing assistance program result in an increase in our rent multiple times, but we've preserved and worked harder to try and stay in our home.
Part of the requirements of the organization that helps us afford rent is yearly housing inspections. Over the past month my family has been doing everything we can to make sure our house is clean and up to code. On Saturday, we had our inspection and we mostly passed (our landlord wants to come back in two weeks to check up on some minor things), but we also found out our Landlord's company is selling all the Section 8 houses they own in our area within the next six months.
This is not a major surprise as our city, Tacoma, has been inheriting the gentrification and housing crisis of technopolis Seattle and our neighborhood (right across the street from a brand new community center and twenty feet from a tennis court and public park) would be a very valuable ticket for wealthy people looking to relocate from urban Seattle. Part of the reason we became homeless in the first place is because it's much more a buyer's market than a renter's right now.
The fair market price of our house is around 300k.
The reason they are selling is because they can’t afford to keep up with the increasingly ridiculous rule changes to stay compatible with Section 8 in every home every year. For example, when we moved into our home two years ago, most of the doors had small patches on them to cover cosmetic damage. This does nothing to alter the effectiveness of the door, nor is it any sort of fire or other hazard. Section 8 was completely fine with this when we moved in. Now, in order to comply with sudden rule changes, our landlord would be required to replace every single door with any patch or cosmetic damage on it not only in our house but every other Section 8 rented home they own. That is just an example of a single rule change.
Like I said above, these same rule changes and budget cuts have also caused our rent to rise multiple times in the short time we have lived here. This was literally my biggest concern after Trump was elected, that changes to nationwide government housing assistance would eventually make me homeless again. People were already resistant to renting to low income renters two years ago because of the wider housing crisis, with these rule changes causing even more landlords to stop working with Section 8, we are terrified we may not find anyone willing to take a chance on us if we can't stay here.
WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?
Our landlord is an incredibly kind man and told my mother that he would do everything in his power to try and help us buy our home. He said he'd sell it to us at a fair price and even help pay the closing costs for us. He would rather keep us in our home than get a potentially bigger price putting it on the market. But we'd still have to get a loan for a mortgage and improve our credit. He thinks she stands a good chance at a decent loan as a veteran, especially if my other adult brother and myself co-sign.
I have the longest and strongest credit history out of the three of us (my brother doesn't have any credit and my mom went through a bankruptcy shortly after we got our home, she's been slowly rebuilding her credit since). However, I have around $6,000 in debt on several credit cards from expenses from the last time we were homeless. I put lots of our living and moving costs on my cards and have been suffocating under the minimum payments to stay current ever since. My mom has been helping me keep up with these payments, as they are higher than the limited income I receive ($100 a month through Patreon).
If we have any chance of buying our home, I need to improve my credit immediately. It's the first step to buying our home. It's also the best thing to do if we can't buy our home, because if we become homeless again, outstanding debt won't help.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
My brother is working full time. My mother has fibromyalgia and is on medication for blood pressure and a few other disabilities related to her age (she's 62), she tried working two jobs this winter to help us stay afloat but ended up in the hospital because her body couldn't take it.
I am disabled. I have nuerofibromitosis, a genetic condition that causes chronic migraines and tumor growth. I have had a few tumors removed, but my migraines make it impossible for me to drive or hold a typical 9-5 because I have to work with a schedule that can be flexible around my healthy hours. This is why I have put everything I have into building my YouTube channel and writing career into something profitable.
I have a pretty decent following on YouTube (3,000 subscribers) but can't currently film because I had to take my DSLR to the pawn shop to help pay bills and expenses for this inspection (It'll cost around $500 to get it out). I have a literary agent (Elana Roth Parker) and I hope to soon have a market worthy manuscript, but all of my time and energy has been focused on prepping for the house and other financial stressors.
I was planning on maybe doing a smaller GoFundMe in a few weeks for the cost of partial dentures ($600). Last year I had a tooth infection that cost me the chewing ability of my right side and has caused a lot of medical issues and daily pain. It hurts to eat and talk without these teeth, which is part of the reason I've taken an extended absence from my YouTube channel. This new crisis, however, is more important.
I've cancelled an upcoming road trip with my mom to YALLWEST (a young adult book festival) because it just doesn't seem financially responsible to spend money on a trip, even if it is a networking and business expense, when we have this huge issue to worry about. I'm really sad about this, but it was my idea. I wouldn't be able to enjoy the trip thinking about how much deeper in the hole it puts us.
I hope, and my family hopes, that if I focus all of my healthy energy on my novel that maybe I'll be able to sell it and that income could help us keep the house. However, it's highly unlikely I'll have a submission ready manuscript before the deadline of when they'll sell. Plus, it's not in my control if, when, or how much a book of mine could sell for.
A few months ago I launched a writer focused planner company, and I hope to grow that too into a more fruitful source of income but again that would rely on marketing on my YouTube channel and will take time.
HOW CAN WE HELP?
I'm asking for help paying off my homeless debt so I can either co-sign with my mother for a loan or be in a better position to face the housing market again. I've also included the costs of getting my camera out of the pawn shop and getting my partial dentures because both are crucial to my only immediate source of income (YouTube video ad revenue and Patreon). The debt is obviously the first priority. Anything above this would go towards a potential down payment (a decent chunk down would highly increase our chances of getting a loan).
I am devastated to be here again. I feel like all I've ever done online is share my sob story and fall in and out of a pit I've scraped my skin raw to climb out of. I said in my first video about being homeless that I was afraid that crisis would wipe me off the map of the publishing community, because poverty is so time consuming and exhausting I just can't prioritize my creative passions over trying to survive. I still feel like I'm barely holding on.
I never felt like this was truly my home and have had nightmares about eviction ever since we moved in. I never allowed myself to feel like this could truly be mine, that I could be safe and now I feel vindicated in the absolute worst way.
I just want to write, film videos, and geek out about Taylor Swift with my friends. All my life I've lived on the teetering edge, dreaming about a life with permanent roots the way my classmates dreamt about travel and independence. All I've ever wanted was to feel like I was stable enough to plan a future, but all I've ever done is try my hardest to stay afloat in the present.
I hate poverty.
If you are uncomfortable donating via GoFundMe, or just would like another way to contribute:
Patreon: http://patreon.com/lilymeade
Ko-fi: http://ko-fi.com/lilymeade
PayPal:
Venmo: @Lily-Meade-1
--
My mom wrote a poem about this, she asked me to include it here:
This is our house.
It's a very nice place to be,
our family,
We live here,
We make a really great team.
There was a time not so long ago
when we didn't have a home.
Living in a beautiful house...
Was just a future potential dream.
This is where we live,
We currently pay rent each month.
We again are at a crossroads,
Either move out
dream of finding a new home.
Or securing it with our own mortgage loan.
We have about 8 months
To figure this all out.
My heart says it will be ours
I will stay positive and push out all my doubts.
@writingtogrow
Organizer
Mariah Lily Meade
Organizer
Tacoma, WA
