I’m Stephen, and I’m starting this fundraiser for myself and my family after a tragedy turned our lives upside down. Four years ago, my wife and I bought a disaster restoration franchise and poured everything we had into building it. With my construction background, including my service in the Army as a carpentry masonry specialist, and our shared desire to help people through hard times, we believed this business was the right path for our family. When work slowed down, I began creating functional art pieces at night and selling them through Crooked SKull Kreations. We worked restoration jobs during the day, and then I spent long evenings in our shop building pieces by hand, sometimes until 8, 9, or 10 at night, trying to keep everything moving forward.

That all changed when a tragically fatal explosion at a neighboring business destroyed our shop, our vehicles, our restoration equipment, and my woodworking tools. At least one person lost their life, and our hearts are heavy for everyone affected. We do have insurance for the restoration equipment, though we still have another year of payments on it, but my woodworking tools are not covered. I’m usually on the other side of disasters, helping families and businesses recover, and it is incredibly hard to be the one asking for help now.

I’ve never been one to ask for help, but this time I have to set my pride aside and reach out because we have three children depending on us. Any support we receive will help us stay afloat with current bills, including our mortgage, and then hopefully help us replace our vehicles and my woodworking tools so we can begin rebuilding. Please consider helping in any way you can. Every donation, prayer, and share means so much to our family as we try to recover and get back to business as usual.