Help a family of 5 survive being homeless

Some people know that we have lost our home, it was a home to a family of 5 including a disabled veteran, 2 of my children were born while we lived there. it's a very long story that involves illegal actions by our previous landlord, including deplorable living conditions while we were living there, including 3 broken windows, holes in the ceiling where you could see all the way into the crawlspace, black mold under our kitchen sink, a garbage disposal that broke at least 2x a week, water leaking from our living room ceiling that was made of asbestos, so it got everywhere, and a stove from the 90's where the oven would NOT turn off, I had to physically pull it away from the wall and disconnect it from the wall and turn off the gas so our apartment didn't fill with gas and catch fire, you can't leave a oven running 24/7.

 We were also harassed by members of their onsite maintenance team, including threatening notes on my door, after I caught the lead of the team taking pictures and videos of my young children through their bedroom window at night, where they should feel safe and comfortable. Making our home from the year 2020 feel so uncomfortable and leaving us feeling violated, judged and like we were on display for the whole complex. It affected my oldest child the most, he was so scared to walk past windows if he wasn't fully dressed from head to toe, which made bath time a nightmare. The team also made emergency calls CPS on us twice, stating the kids were in dangerous living conditions, when the case worker came, she noted that ALL the complaints they made about our home, were things I had been trying to get them to fix for at least a year, and had all the documentation as proof. CPS ended up filling a complaint with the department of building and safety, and the health department on our behalf! Because the maintenance team involved CPS, the owners of the building, Goldrich & Kest were hit with fines from the city because of the disgusting conditions and treatment of the residents. Some even had roaches and the building told them "we can't do anything, go buy bug bombs and do it yourself"

On top of that, they served us with a bill for over $19,000 for repairs 3 weeks after we left, even though we lived there for almost 9 years, and most of the repairs they are trying to charge us for, I had asked to be repaired at least 1 year previous to use being kicked out, or normal wear and tear you would expect from a family with young kids living in the same space for 8+ years like a stained carpet, the closet doors coming off the tracks, ect.

When we returned to pick up our belongings, the had taken everything from our patio and THROWN in ON TOP of all of our living room furniture damaging almost everything, we had to leave A LOT of our furniture behind because it was broken or damaged beyond use, including a couch that was 1 year old and now has a huge rip in the top/back. We lost our entertainment center, coffee table, 2 book shelves, and all of our kitchen stuff other than a little toaster oven I had bought so I could actually make my kids dinners.

We are lucky enough to be able to afford to stay in a hotel while we find a new home thanks to Stephens job at the department of veterans affairs, he is even putting in a LOT of overtime to help with the extra costs, but we won't see the changes in his check for a few weeks. we are also working with a lawyer pro Bono to help with our legal rights and fight this unfair situation.

But living hotel life is difficult, especially with 3 children, 2 of which are neurodivergent. It is costing us more money to sustain this, finding a new home and making sure all the kids needs are met, weekly hotel rates are more expensive than our monthly rent at our old home, buying food for the kids everyday when all we have is a mini fridge and microwave. buying diapers, and other basic necessities is really adding up. 

so I am making this go fund me for help with keep everything going while we try to find a forever home, and don't spend the money we have saved for a new apartment. if we have to dip into that, we will not be able to pay for a place to live, the expenses of hotel living and keeping everything as normal as possible for the kids is taking all we have. 

On top of that, still taking care of my health, managing my Graves disease, and a new ulcer diagnosis is taking a HUGE toll on my mental health.

So if you find it in your heart to help my family, I promise when we are in a better place, I WILL pay it forward in some way. Anyone who knows me knows I HATE asking for help, just writing this is one of the hardest things I have had to do, but as a mom there isn't anything I wouldn't do for my kids, and I will make sure to put as much love into this world as we receive during this soul crushing time.

***The amount choosen is enough money to pay for the hotel we are at for 6 weeks, hopefully giving us enough time to secure a real home ***