- E
Thank you for visiting our GoFundMe page. We are Leah and Ethan Williams. We have spent the last 2 ½ years being married to each other and are loving every minute of it. We painted with watercolor at the Provo River for our first date, using the river for our water, and still love doing art together now. Leah enjoys baking, fashion, and holding babies. She works as an aide in an elementary school special ed room and nannies most nights. And Ethan enjoys cooking, magic, and drawing. He is going to school full time and working part time.
We can’t express how grateful we are for the kindness we’ve been shown by people in our lives, and do our best to show kindness to those we meet. We need your help right now, and are grateful for any support you are able to give.
The Problem:
We are not “car guys,” so Ethan will do his best to explain what is going on with the car as we understand it:
Our car has a bad cylinder head, and perhaps other related issues that can’t be diagnosed without a significant amount of time and labor. The repair of the cylinder head would cost $1,500. The suggested additional repair of replacing the timing belt (see update for more detail) would be an extra $450.
On the other hand, we were told that we could get a fully functional engine with fewer miles, installed for a total cost of $2,200.
In summary, in order to get a working car again, we need about $2,000. Given the uncertainty of what they might find after they start the repairs it might be best to get the new engine.
---More explanation of the diagnosis will be available in an update we’ll post.---
How We Got Here:
We knew we didn’t have enough money to pay for the car repair. We had been praying about what we could do to earn more money to pay for the necessary repairs. That Saturday morning we decided to fast. While fasting, Leah got an impression that we should start a GoFundMe campaign. The idea of doing that had never crossed either of our minds before, but it kept crossing Leah's. It felt right, so we started working on it.
Why:
►Supporting our family:
Between us, we are working three jobs at three locations, in addition to Ethan’s full class schedule (this is the last semester of his program), We are busy and on the move from 8 am until 10 p.m. or later, going from job to job and job to class. Leah’s childcare work often takes her out of the city. Reliable transportation is important to us on a daily basis.
►Learning and Growing:
We recently have learned to budget money much more effectively. In fact, we had consistently stuck to a budget for several months before this, and were even able to add a few dollars in savings. Unfortunately, those few dollars won’t go far toward fixing our car.
We have learned many ways to make due with what we have. We’ve completely stopped eating out, have not been making any impulse buys, and have been planning meals with what we already have in lieu of grocery shopping as frequently. In fact, Ethan gets to play a cooking game he used to play in high school at his friend’s house called “We don’t have very much food. But hey, Ethan, make something delicious out of what we do have.” He’s pretty good, too.
Leah has become very disciplined with her routines. She works on projects in the classroom after school to pick up as many extra hours as she can, and also takes as many jobs nannying as possible.
What We've Been Doing:
►Auto Shops:
We have looked at several auto shops. Many don’t use payment plans. We've been lucky to find Willy's Auto Shop, who will give us more time than most to pay.
We haven’t been able to get a loan from the bank because we don’t make enough extra income to be able to pay it back. We can get a high-interest (30%) loan, which will let us pay for our car, but then we will not be able to pay it off before we end up owing 2-3 times the original price anyway.
►Selling Things:
We have also been selling old items online (KSL and FB marketplace) and we're doing it more and more. It has been successful if slow-going.
Also, in that same vein - if you have any stuff you want to get rid of and wouldn't mind us taking off your hands, so we can sell it, that'd be another great way to contribute to our fundraiser.
►Working:
Leah works as an aide in the Special Ed room of an elementary school. She also nannies most days- afternoon, evening, or both. Ethan is taking classes full-time and working part time, as well as picking up as much freelance illustration work as he can get.
►Directly, your donation will:
• Help Leah to be able to get around to all the places she needs to for both her part-time jobs while Ethan is away.
• Allow Ethan to get to school and work at the times he needs to be, without Leah needing to take time away from work to give him rides.
• Help Ethan as he looks for a new job once he graduates in December
• Relieve us of stress and help us have peace of mind about finances.
• Give us the opportunity to get our lives moving again- help us get over this hurdle that, by its nature, absorbs more time and energy than we have to give.
We need your donation because we don’t have the money to do it ourselves; we only have enough to cover school fees and rent. We are using any extra income we have to pay overdue medical bills.
Why should you care:
You have had similar situations in your life, no doubt. And you have been able to get through them. Sometimes with the help of others, often on your own, through a lot of self sacrifice and going without.
People are good, hard experiences are hard, and they are there to learn from- not just for those immediately involved, but for everyone. A chance to help someone else is an opportunity to add your own love into the world. We add ours when we can. And when we do have the money, we will “pay it forward” to someone in need.
We are asking for your help because we have no other way to pay for our car repair, and we know our community understands. We know not only have you been in a similar position before, but more than that, we know you love us. It is incredible to feel the goodness and love of friends and strangers, nothing connecting us but the thread of love regardless of anything else.
Thank you,
Sincerely, Leah and Ethan Williams
We can’t express how grateful we are for the kindness we’ve been shown by people in our lives, and do our best to show kindness to those we meet. We need your help right now, and are grateful for any support you are able to give.
The Problem:
We are not “car guys,” so Ethan will do his best to explain what is going on with the car as we understand it:
Our car has a bad cylinder head, and perhaps other related issues that can’t be diagnosed without a significant amount of time and labor. The repair of the cylinder head would cost $1,500. The suggested additional repair of replacing the timing belt (see update for more detail) would be an extra $450.
On the other hand, we were told that we could get a fully functional engine with fewer miles, installed for a total cost of $2,200.
In summary, in order to get a working car again, we need about $2,000. Given the uncertainty of what they might find after they start the repairs it might be best to get the new engine.
---More explanation of the diagnosis will be available in an update we’ll post.---
How We Got Here:
We knew we didn’t have enough money to pay for the car repair. We had been praying about what we could do to earn more money to pay for the necessary repairs. That Saturday morning we decided to fast. While fasting, Leah got an impression that we should start a GoFundMe campaign. The idea of doing that had never crossed either of our minds before, but it kept crossing Leah's. It felt right, so we started working on it.
Why:
►Supporting our family:
Between us, we are working three jobs at three locations, in addition to Ethan’s full class schedule (this is the last semester of his program), We are busy and on the move from 8 am until 10 p.m. or later, going from job to job and job to class. Leah’s childcare work often takes her out of the city. Reliable transportation is important to us on a daily basis.
►Learning and Growing:
We recently have learned to budget money much more effectively. In fact, we had consistently stuck to a budget for several months before this, and were even able to add a few dollars in savings. Unfortunately, those few dollars won’t go far toward fixing our car.
We have learned many ways to make due with what we have. We’ve completely stopped eating out, have not been making any impulse buys, and have been planning meals with what we already have in lieu of grocery shopping as frequently. In fact, Ethan gets to play a cooking game he used to play in high school at his friend’s house called “We don’t have very much food. But hey, Ethan, make something delicious out of what we do have.” He’s pretty good, too.
Leah has become very disciplined with her routines. She works on projects in the classroom after school to pick up as many extra hours as she can, and also takes as many jobs nannying as possible.
What We've Been Doing:
►Auto Shops:
We have looked at several auto shops. Many don’t use payment plans. We've been lucky to find Willy's Auto Shop, who will give us more time than most to pay.
We haven’t been able to get a loan from the bank because we don’t make enough extra income to be able to pay it back. We can get a high-interest (30%) loan, which will let us pay for our car, but then we will not be able to pay it off before we end up owing 2-3 times the original price anyway.
►Selling Things:
We have also been selling old items online (KSL and FB marketplace) and we're doing it more and more. It has been successful if slow-going.
Also, in that same vein - if you have any stuff you want to get rid of and wouldn't mind us taking off your hands, so we can sell it, that'd be another great way to contribute to our fundraiser.
►Working:
Leah works as an aide in the Special Ed room of an elementary school. She also nannies most days- afternoon, evening, or both. Ethan is taking classes full-time and working part time, as well as picking up as much freelance illustration work as he can get.
►Directly, your donation will:
• Help Leah to be able to get around to all the places she needs to for both her part-time jobs while Ethan is away.
• Allow Ethan to get to school and work at the times he needs to be, without Leah needing to take time away from work to give him rides.
• Help Ethan as he looks for a new job once he graduates in December
• Relieve us of stress and help us have peace of mind about finances.
• Give us the opportunity to get our lives moving again- help us get over this hurdle that, by its nature, absorbs more time and energy than we have to give.
We need your donation because we don’t have the money to do it ourselves; we only have enough to cover school fees and rent. We are using any extra income we have to pay overdue medical bills.
Why should you care:
You have had similar situations in your life, no doubt. And you have been able to get through them. Sometimes with the help of others, often on your own, through a lot of self sacrifice and going without.
People are good, hard experiences are hard, and they are there to learn from- not just for those immediately involved, but for everyone. A chance to help someone else is an opportunity to add your own love into the world. We add ours when we can. And when we do have the money, we will “pay it forward” to someone in need.
We are asking for your help because we have no other way to pay for our car repair, and we know our community understands. We know not only have you been in a similar position before, but more than that, we know you love us. It is incredible to feel the goodness and love of friends and strangers, nothing connecting us but the thread of love regardless of anything else.
Thank you,
Sincerely, Leah and Ethan Williams