Donativo protegido
Our family sold our 15 acre farm 3 years ago and have lived tiny on wheels in order to meet our son's academic and behavioral health needs. He is now almost 9 and has five mental health diagnoses.
In that time, I have made a career out of advocating for extreme children like him and educating extreme parents like us across the country on my Blog , social media: Facebook and Instagram , and speaking nation-wide.
Last week we were served a notice that a neighbor (who, for years before us, has apparently wanted to buy the property on which we are parked) reported our family to the county zoning commissioner for living tiny on wheels as it is illegal since we cannot be property taxed, though I've taught in our public schools, we pay our annual taxes income taxes, shop locally, etc.
We were given 15 days to move. According to the letter, our time is up on April 2nd.
Because of paying for our son's medical needs, we now have no truck to haul our home and the Coronavirus restrictions have closed all campgrounds in our entire state. My husband was laid off from his job and I've lost over half of my income due to canceled events, closed schools, and writing clients having no income to pay for my services.
Our dream was to buy this land and pay cash to build a small home where we could keep our kids safe while getting our son's needs met. Should we have to move, we'd have no truck to haul our home, no place to park our home locally, and it would Mean leaving our son's school (for children with needs like his), friends, specialists, therapists, doctors, etc.
This neighbor really has no clue how devastating this could be for our son's mental health and future.
Many readers, friends, and even complete strangers asked if we'd start a GoFundMe so they could help. I'd never even considered that. We have always worked in social services and public education, doing what we can to serve others.
So, I'll be honest. This feels icky...like we are doing something wrong. But a friend said, "You never know how God might bless you and it is your turn to let others help you."
So here we are...confused and humbled and with four days on the clock.
We still hope for a miracle so we don't have to move at all. Honestly,If I don't know how we'd even try to explain that to our son on top of all of the closures, school moving online, and high anxiety already.
If we had the capital, we'd gather our talented and gracious tiny house friends and build the simple, small house we imagine for our family. But right now, all we can hope for is an extension to sort this whole mess out (we are considered a zoning violation and not an eviction so we're being given no grace at this time).
We are hopeful that continuing to serve others and tell our story so that extreme families know they are now alone...even in these hard and ugly trials...that we can come together as a community to lift each other up.❤️
*Some have asked what we'd use the money for, so here it is:
Because of our credit, anything we do (buying land, renting a place to live, buying/building a home) would have to be paid in cash. So this money will go to the following:
-Covering medical costs for our extreme child (including insurance)
-Covering living expenses
-Covering lost wages
-Covering moving expenses (including renting a truck to move our house, possibly buying or renting land should we find any, possibly toward building a small house that would allow our family to live legally, and no longer on wheels)
In that time, I have made a career out of advocating for extreme children like him and educating extreme parents like us across the country on my Blog , social media: Facebook and Instagram , and speaking nation-wide.
Last week we were served a notice that a neighbor (who, for years before us, has apparently wanted to buy the property on which we are parked) reported our family to the county zoning commissioner for living tiny on wheels as it is illegal since we cannot be property taxed, though I've taught in our public schools, we pay our annual taxes income taxes, shop locally, etc.
We were given 15 days to move. According to the letter, our time is up on April 2nd.
Because of paying for our son's medical needs, we now have no truck to haul our home and the Coronavirus restrictions have closed all campgrounds in our entire state. My husband was laid off from his job and I've lost over half of my income due to canceled events, closed schools, and writing clients having no income to pay for my services.
Our dream was to buy this land and pay cash to build a small home where we could keep our kids safe while getting our son's needs met. Should we have to move, we'd have no truck to haul our home, no place to park our home locally, and it would Mean leaving our son's school (for children with needs like his), friends, specialists, therapists, doctors, etc.
This neighbor really has no clue how devastating this could be for our son's mental health and future.
Many readers, friends, and even complete strangers asked if we'd start a GoFundMe so they could help. I'd never even considered that. We have always worked in social services and public education, doing what we can to serve others.
So, I'll be honest. This feels icky...like we are doing something wrong. But a friend said, "You never know how God might bless you and it is your turn to let others help you."
So here we are...confused and humbled and with four days on the clock.
We still hope for a miracle so we don't have to move at all. Honestly,If I don't know how we'd even try to explain that to our son on top of all of the closures, school moving online, and high anxiety already.
If we had the capital, we'd gather our talented and gracious tiny house friends and build the simple, small house we imagine for our family. But right now, all we can hope for is an extension to sort this whole mess out (we are considered a zoning violation and not an eviction so we're being given no grace at this time).
We are hopeful that continuing to serve others and tell our story so that extreme families know they are now alone...even in these hard and ugly trials...that we can come together as a community to lift each other up.❤️
*Some have asked what we'd use the money for, so here it is:
Because of our credit, anything we do (buying land, renting a place to live, buying/building a home) would have to be paid in cash. So this money will go to the following:
-Covering medical costs for our extreme child (including insurance)
-Covering living expenses
-Covering lost wages
-Covering moving expenses (including renting a truck to move our house, possibly buying or renting land should we find any, possibly toward building a small house that would allow our family to live legally, and no longer on wheels)
Organizador
Brynn Robertson Spence Burger
Organizador
Bluff City, TN