There's a lot here, so if you do read through all of it -- thank you. I want to give anyone who helps an understanding of what's been going on, how we are, and why I'm creating this.
Hey -- My name is Holden. I'm 27 years old, and I've lived in Kentucky with my mother and brother for almost all of my life. My mother's just about to hit her 50s, and my brother's just hit 26! It hasn't been easy living here for the last few years, especially with the covid epidemic hitting a majority of my family pretty hard -- My grandmother passed away on March 12th after suffering complications from Covid that she acquired from the hospital she had been staying at. She had been a smoker since she was 11, so her health wasn't always the best. For the last seven years, we've been in and out of the hospital with her between Bronchitis, COPD, Pneumonia and other health problems.
We loved her dearly, and we had spent a LOT of time and money supporting her health and well-being as she was gradually getting worse and worse each year. This put a heavy financial burden on our family, between expensive hospital stays, medication, and a family member being in and out of jail. We're still sorting through my Nanas basement of belongings and family mementos, and while we're doing this, we're still managing our own problems in our home.
My grandmother only lived seven houses down from where I live -- their household supports her husband, one of her daughters, and her daughters two children. We all live in a pretty rural area in Kentucky, and our homes are NOT in very good condition, and neither is a majority of our families' health.
My home, which I've lived in for practically all 27 years of my life, is disheveled, run down and in dire need of repairs and fixing. Numerous roof leaks have caused a lot of water damage, the structure and support of the home underneath are damaged, and there are actively holes in the floors of my home. In one of the bathrooms, the entire floor is sunk-in and soft, only supported by support beams and the Linoleum tile above it. My closet's ceiling is completely collapsed and constantly leaks whenever it rains -- it's full of containers to catch any water that drips down from the top of the floor. I had to remove all my clothing, personal belongings and treasured stuff out of there many years ago so they wouldn't become damaged. There are other household problems, but there are too many to list, and some are hard to talk about.
My mother was diagnosed with Lupus several years ago and has been having to manage that and other health complications that it has brought. Currently, she's employed as a home worker for the local VA clinic in our state, working as a licensed medical coder. She's currently the only one actively working in this home as it's challenging to find employment, and I have to do my best to keep the home in enough of a stable state to where we don't have to leave, and I assist her around the home to make sure she's okay with the health problems she has. It's hard to seek employment considering her health state most of the time. I'm actively seeking home employment as well, but it's still a struggle to find reliable work and pay right now in Kentucky. My brother has been undergoing medical evaluations as well because he has been diagnosed with Myasthenia gravis, and there's the likelihood that he may be diagnosed with ALS in the future. Most of our financial stability has been pushed to make sure both he and my mother are healthy enough to live comfortably. I've been lucky not to be diagnosed with any severely detrimental health conditions, and I'm trying my best every day to support my family in any measure I can.
Right now, I'm arranging plans with family and friends to help work on repairing my home. My mother's always been a prideful person, and she has always refused help from others, even when she deserves it. She probably has no idea I'm posting this up! But I've been fighting myself for the last several years to do this, and after this year's loss of my grandmother and my brothers' medical problems hitting an apex, I've chosen that I can't sit and wait quietly any longer. I want to work again. I want to eventually someday resume my college education and re-enter training for Prosthetics fabrication at BCTC (Bluegrass Community & Technical College. They just added this as a career path, and there are only five other places in the US that do this!). I want to assure my home isn't going to collapse. I want to make sure my mother and brother are okay, and I want us to be able to afford groceries and the medications that help us get by without suffering.
Any funds that are received, big or small, will help support my family. None of this is going to me, but towards my mother, brother, and our home and basic needs (Medicine, groceries, food/water, clothing). I'm happy so long as they are alright, and if anyone has any ideas, suggestions or anything, please provide them; I'm always here to be reached. I've gotten my medical problems identified and addressed this year, so I want to finally start moving forward again with my life rather than being stuck here keeping things from getting worse -- I want to make them better. If I can earn enough to fix both the roof and floors of my home, this would be the first step that would help me feel more secure that my family and I will be alright.
If you read all of this, whether or not you choose to help us, thank you. Being able to tell people about my family and the hardships we've been through and for people to know we've been trying is important. I don't know if this will gain any attention or traction, but I want to do something that can help.