Hey friends and family,

I hope you're doing well (as much as possible during these troubled times).

I wish I could say that our family is getting by, but we're not. We are a family in crisis and we desperately need help.

I was laid off from my job a little over a year ago as the company I was with (a small start-up), fell on hard times. This job was a shift from bar/restaurant work during COVID and Daniele's unexpected pregnancy with our third child. My unemployment benefits ran out in July of 2025 and I have not been able to find steady, reliable work that brings in enough money to sustain us.

Daniele’s business continues to serve many families in Portland, but it was never part of our financial plan for it to pay her enough to support our family, and it doesn't come close.

Any safety net we had is gone. We've taken out loans to get us by, but car troubles, home repairs, life and child expenses; ate up that money quickly, and now they're just another bill to be paid. Adding to the financial stress we've been navigating, we've also had to take huge chunks of time supporting our child with disabilities at their new school due to ableism and a serious lack of support our kiddo needs and deserves. Constant meetings, early pick-ups, even attending full time with him for months to protect him from extreme bullying and emotional trauma.

With little to no income coming in each month, we've fallen horribly behind on every bill and most frighteningly, we're over 7 months behind on our mortgage. Daniele is picking up overnight nanny and doula work in addition to her teaching schedule, to try to bring in more income. I'm picking up any and all work I can while applying for full time work. We're doing absolutely everything we can, exploring every avenue of financial support and strategy, but it's very possible we could lose our house, our home. Rent is more expensive than our mortgage payments are, so we wouldn't even have anywhere to go.

We're stuck. We need help. I know many of us are struggling, so words of encouragement, positive thoughts, solidarity and community, are appreciated and surely enough, if that's what you're able to provide.

If you have anything extra you can donate, many hands make light work, as they say. We're no strangers to hard times; when Colin was severely ill as a baby, when Daniele's mom died, or when we made the move out west to give our kids connection and easy access to family; our community got us through. We hope that can be the case now.

While I continue to look for full time work, any money we raise would help us in getting caught up on our mortgage payments and bills, and hopefully supply a little breathing room for us.

We love and appreciate you all, whether you are near or far, and will be eternally grateful for anything you can do to help.

Mike, Daniele, Colin, Donavyn and Georgia

*If you want to avoid transaction fees, our Venmo is mike-butler-44