Help the Flanigans Keep Their Home
Donation protected
My name is Alex. If you've ever met me--whether in person or as a byproduct of one of my artistic projects--chances are you're aware of how much my family means to me. In fact, you've probably been invited into their home. Maybe you've been lovingly occupied by one of the rescue pets or offered a mug of the world's greatest homemade hot chocolate or given a couch to crash on the holidays. Maybe you've heard my mother at the old piano in the living room or played a board game with my siblings or swapped stories around breakfast. For as long as I can remember, my mom has made a point to open our home to anyone and everyone who might ever need one. I was raised to believe that no matter how little you had, you always had something to share, and to share it freely.
Unfortunately, that home may not exist much longer--for them or anyone else--without a generous miracle.
For the past 13 years, we've struggled as a family under the crushing weight of debts left for us by my father's abrupt and traumatic departure. My mother worked hard to be a present parent for four children while still keeping us safe and provided for, starting from well behind square one. My older sister became a household provider as soon as she was able, working multiple jobs while also earning a masters degree, and I worked my way through college while helping to pay rent and bills for the family home. For a while, with all of us working more than full-time, things looked hopeful as we began to catch up on some past debts and slowly dig our way out, but it's never quite been enough to make up for the enormous deficit we were starting with.
This summer, my grandmother--my mother's mother--passed away after months of medical struggle and years of financial difficulty. My mom bore the weight of much of this transition both emotionally and financially, as well as the numerous hours spent cleaning up her home and dealing with arrangements on top of working 40 hours a week. I moved out of the family home and in with my partner of four years as work took us further away. Additionally, my sister, with a masters and several years of experience in education, has been unable to get a full-time job, leaving her with only her part-time employment and dozens of job applications every week. There are no two ways around it: my family can't make rent.
All of this has been a series of additional complications on top of dealing with an increasingly difficult landlord whose willingness to communicate is limited to clipped emails and legal paperwork, and whose refusal to keep up on repairs has added numerous financial hurdles to an already impossible living situation. My mother has recently received a summons to appear in court on October 11 over the amount of $7000. With the threat of eviction and my grandmother's home no longer even a temporary option, we have no options at all but to ask for help, so here I am. Any money raised in this GoFundMe will go directly to catching up the past balance, paying off the fees to the landlord and the cost of legal representation in court to try to keep the home and have a chance at buying time to get back on their feet with a fighting chance again. I don't know how long we have or what happens if we aren't able to come up with something, but I know that any amount at all helps.
I don't know a single person in my life who isn't struggling right now in some way or another. If there were some number of hours I could work or stories I could write or floors I could scrub to make the money necessary in time to make a difference, I would do it, but that just isn't a possibility. So I'm asking anyone who reads this, anyone who has ever found a second home when they needed it or a warm meal when they wanted it or a turn of luck when they were desperate, to please do what you can--whether that's a dollar or ten dollars or just sharing this along to the next person in hopes that someone somewhere might be able to help. It would mean the world to me and to my family, and it would mean a home to so many others as well.
Unfortunately, that home may not exist much longer--for them or anyone else--without a generous miracle.
For the past 13 years, we've struggled as a family under the crushing weight of debts left for us by my father's abrupt and traumatic departure. My mother worked hard to be a present parent for four children while still keeping us safe and provided for, starting from well behind square one. My older sister became a household provider as soon as she was able, working multiple jobs while also earning a masters degree, and I worked my way through college while helping to pay rent and bills for the family home. For a while, with all of us working more than full-time, things looked hopeful as we began to catch up on some past debts and slowly dig our way out, but it's never quite been enough to make up for the enormous deficit we were starting with.
This summer, my grandmother--my mother's mother--passed away after months of medical struggle and years of financial difficulty. My mom bore the weight of much of this transition both emotionally and financially, as well as the numerous hours spent cleaning up her home and dealing with arrangements on top of working 40 hours a week. I moved out of the family home and in with my partner of four years as work took us further away. Additionally, my sister, with a masters and several years of experience in education, has been unable to get a full-time job, leaving her with only her part-time employment and dozens of job applications every week. There are no two ways around it: my family can't make rent.
All of this has been a series of additional complications on top of dealing with an increasingly difficult landlord whose willingness to communicate is limited to clipped emails and legal paperwork, and whose refusal to keep up on repairs has added numerous financial hurdles to an already impossible living situation. My mother has recently received a summons to appear in court on October 11 over the amount of $7000. With the threat of eviction and my grandmother's home no longer even a temporary option, we have no options at all but to ask for help, so here I am. Any money raised in this GoFundMe will go directly to catching up the past balance, paying off the fees to the landlord and the cost of legal representation in court to try to keep the home and have a chance at buying time to get back on their feet with a fighting chance again. I don't know how long we have or what happens if we aren't able to come up with something, but I know that any amount at all helps.
I don't know a single person in my life who isn't struggling right now in some way or another. If there were some number of hours I could work or stories I could write or floors I could scrub to make the money necessary in time to make a difference, I would do it, but that just isn't a possibility. So I'm asking anyone who reads this, anyone who has ever found a second home when they needed it or a warm meal when they wanted it or a turn of luck when they were desperate, to please do what you can--whether that's a dollar or ten dollars or just sharing this along to the next person in hopes that someone somewhere might be able to help. It would mean the world to me and to my family, and it would mean a home to so many others as well.
Organizer and beneficiary
Alex Flanigan
Organizer
Winchester, VA
Robin Flanigan
Beneficiary
