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HELP save handicapped couple

Our Story
My name is Joseph Grella and I would like to thank all
of our donors who have extended their generosity to help us overcome our current situation. After being revived from a coma in 2010 I found myself a quadraplegic just able to use my left arm and no longer able to work.  Now I am in danger of losing my home which has been completely renovated for handicap accessibility. Terrified of moving to a low income handicap apartment I turned to this Go Fund Me platform in the hope of raising the money to hire a lawyer for our foreclosure defense.
            I am Desperately Seeking Donors to complete our Go Fund Me campaign which right now totals $3500. This will help pay the legal fees that we require in order to file a Motion to Dismiss. I ask that you read my story before deciding whether or not I am worthy of your generosity
          To help facilitate this GO FUND ME campaign we have formed The Grella Foundation which is a nonprofit 501 (C) 3 Corporation which makes all donations tax deductible. I am not looking to profit from others kind enough to support my campaign so I have made arrangements, should we be successful in our foreclosure defense, for our home to be donated to the MS Society on our demise. Hopefully this will enable another family in need of handicap accessible housing to live in a comfortable home. In 2017 the bank filed their final foreclosure and now without the resources to retain a lawyer I turned to this Go Fund Me campaign to try and generate support. In addition to the legal fees my van, which is wheelchair accessible, requires a new ramp motor so I started this campaign to raise the money to meet these challenges. 
In the beginning...
          I started my commercial real estate career in1976 and was on my way to becoming very successful when in 1983 I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. At that time life expectancy for males with MS was 45 to 55 I was 30 years old and felt I had to work even harder for the next 10 years to secure my future. Moving my family to Detroit, Michigan I started Mid-America Realty Group to acquire income properties. By 1985 I had acquired three commercial properties which I thought would provide me with the resources to provide for my family. In 1988 with the properties beginning to decline in value I sold one and two others were foreclosed. The Savings and Loan crisis of 1989 set the commercial real estate markets back and the country was in a financial crisis.
My first obstacle...No income
At this time I also was in a crisis for I suffered a stroke in 1989 that left me unable to walk and forced me to rely on Social Security Disability as my sole-source of income. At this time I went through a very nasty and expensive divorce as a result I moved home to Long Island, New York. in 1990 after extended rehab I was able to walk again with the use of a cane. In an effort to overcome the obstacle of no income I took a position as Dir. of Acquisitions for a real estate investment trust.
My second obstacle...Lonliness
Having secured a position in real estate I began a relationship with my wife, Nella, who lived in Moscow, Russia where she was finishing her Masters Degree. For 2 years we communicated on a weekly basis via letters and telephone calls then in November, 1992 after the breakup of the Soviet Union I traveled to Moscow and asked her to marry me. She came to America in January, 1993 and we were married on February 14th. The investment trust I was working for suspended operations in 1994 and I now had to find a way to support Nella and myself. I asked her to work with me as residential real estate brokers and we began with Coldwell Banker Real Estate on the North Shore of Long Island. By 1998 our sales made her Agent of the Year and we were well on our way to a successful career as residential brokers. In August 1998 we purchased our home on Spruce Court and settled into a comfortable life.
My third obstacle...My accident
On March 27, 2001 I was in a head-on car accident at 60 miles an hour in which I died and needed to be defibrillated back to life. I remember looking up after the accident and seeing all of the destruction and blood I blacked out. I then found myself completely nude surrounded by a dark gray mist with a faint light in the distance towards which I was walking. I was walking without a cane with no pain and no evidence of any injuries. I felt the best I ever felt in my entire life. With each step the light kept getting brighter and warmer then I stopped and said I cannot come at this time I have to go back and take care of my wife. After thinking this I suddenly awoke freezing cold on a stretcher that was being rushed into an operating room. They removed my spleen and tried to repair my crushed arm. When I was in recovery I found that I was paralyzed from the waist down and unable to use my right hand I also had lost almost all of my teeth. After five months in a rehab facility I returned to our home which Nella had made wheelchair accessible so we could continue to live.
My fourth obstacle... Foreclosure 
Now I had to find another way to overcome the obstacle of no income so I began selling mortgages over the telephone from home. Nella's mother who had come to America to live with us then in 2003 her mother suffered a massive heart attack and died. The difficulty of helping care for me and the loss of her mother caused so much emotional stress that Nella had a nervous breakdown. I continued to sell mortgages and was able to support us until 2008 when the financial crisis eliminated the sub-prime mortgage market and I now had no income except Social Security which did not cover our mortgage. In 2009 the bank filed foreclosure which we were able to aggressively defend and in 2012 the case was dismissed.
My fifth obstacle...No way to work
On May 10, 2010 I lapsed into a coma for 40 days. After being revived I found that I now required much more extensive healthcare assistance. I had a trach inserted in my neck for oxygen and fluid suctioning, removal of my colon, my right arm was paralyzed and I had 4 Stage IV pressure ulcers on my posterior. Unfortunately after coming out of the coma I could no longer work on the telephone. We went along for the next five years without any contact from the bank until November 2017 when they filed their last chance to foreclose the mortgage. Now without any income or savings we needed to hire a law firm to defend our home. 
My last obstacle...
This Go Fund Me campaign has so far enabled us to  hire the same law firm that won the dismissal in 2012. We still have to raise an additional $4000 to complete the payment of their legal fees and repair my handicap accessible van. 
          I hope after reading my story  you'll see us worthy of your support and any donation no matter how small will be greatly appreciated. I have attached several videos of my daily routine to give you an idea of how difficult it is to be a quadriplegic depending on other people to do everything for you. Even if you feel after reading my story that you cannot support us with a donation I would love to hear from you about how I could make this more appealing so we can reach our GOAL! I thank you very much for your time and your consideration. My prayers are with you and may God bless you and your family with health and prosperity. 

Videos showing my daily routines
My daily wound care

My van


SUCTIONING fluid out of my lungs

My current appearance

MY WOUNDS
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Donations 

  • Dianne Bunce
    • $100 
    • 5 yrs
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Organizer

Joseph Grella
Organizer
Huntington, NY

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