Emergency housing for family with 3 autistic boys!
Donation protected
This fundraiser is for my cousin Jennifer Brands and her husband John Brands. They are two very remarkable people who are raising 3 boys on the Autism Spectrum. They have just received devastating news that they must vacate their home immediately due to a mold infestation. At this time, please help me raise as much money as we can to help offset the cost of temporary housing and the mold remediation. Let's see how much we can help this family!
My cousin never asks for help, so, when I saw her post below on Facebook...I knew that we, as a community, needed to jump in and help in anyway that we could. Please help out. Prayers for her family are also welcomed!
A letter from a mother in desperate need:
For those of you who know me well, know that I am not very good at asking for help, so writing this post has been very difficult for me. I’m a proud mom, who would go to the ends of the earth for her 3 sons with autism...I feel like I should be able to handle and do it all on my own. But as many of you also know (especially my fellow autism parents), raising kids with autism or any special need for that matter takes a village. Our family desperately needs a village right now and a lot of prayers!!
The past few years have been exceptionally rough for our entire family, but especially for Drew. His health has continued to decline at a very rapid pace - constant motor/vocal tics, muscle spasms that make it very difficult for him to walk, screaming, uncontrollable crying, out of control OCD, sleepless nights, punching himself in the head, aggression towards others...the list could go on. It has turned the dynamics of our family and home upside down.
After extensive testing of Drew and our home, the results show that our entire home is unsafe. Due to a past water damage event that wasn’t remediated properly by the “experts”, we now have mold/mycotoxins circulating through our entire home which is likely contributing to Drew’s rapid health decline. Drew’s results also show that his immune system is very unstable and compromised. His body is unable to detox the toxins effectively.
We have been advised by the professionals to get out of our home immediately, if possible. Yes, that means leave now and taking next to nothing with us, as the majority of our possessions in the home are likely contaminated and will need to be tossed. Based on the severity of the situation, our entire home basically needs to be gutted, all sheetrock, insulation, carpet, flooring, cabinets removed, entire HVAC system replaced, etc.
Currently, we are living off one income since John unselfishly took a leave of absence from his job to be able to facilitate the twins online learning due to COVID. We are really struggling to understand how we are going to do what is being advised and the need to basically start from scratch. This is where you all, our much needed village, come into the picture...hopefully and prayerfully!
Our home/lives are being turned upside down right now by the situation we are in. Not only do we need to get Drew out of this toxic environment so he can begin to heal, we also have to consider how every step/change/decision is going to affect each of the boys. Anxiety is high, but we have faith! We will never give up fighting for our family and will do whatever it takes to keep our boys safe and to see a smile on Drew’s face again.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!
Blessings to you all,
Jen & John Brands
My cousin never asks for help, so, when I saw her post below on Facebook...I knew that we, as a community, needed to jump in and help in anyway that we could. Please help out. Prayers for her family are also welcomed!
A letter from a mother in desperate need:
For those of you who know me well, know that I am not very good at asking for help, so writing this post has been very difficult for me. I’m a proud mom, who would go to the ends of the earth for her 3 sons with autism...I feel like I should be able to handle and do it all on my own. But as many of you also know (especially my fellow autism parents), raising kids with autism or any special need for that matter takes a village. Our family desperately needs a village right now and a lot of prayers!!
The past few years have been exceptionally rough for our entire family, but especially for Drew. His health has continued to decline at a very rapid pace - constant motor/vocal tics, muscle spasms that make it very difficult for him to walk, screaming, uncontrollable crying, out of control OCD, sleepless nights, punching himself in the head, aggression towards others...the list could go on. It has turned the dynamics of our family and home upside down.
After extensive testing of Drew and our home, the results show that our entire home is unsafe. Due to a past water damage event that wasn’t remediated properly by the “experts”, we now have mold/mycotoxins circulating through our entire home which is likely contributing to Drew’s rapid health decline. Drew’s results also show that his immune system is very unstable and compromised. His body is unable to detox the toxins effectively.
We have been advised by the professionals to get out of our home immediately, if possible. Yes, that means leave now and taking next to nothing with us, as the majority of our possessions in the home are likely contaminated and will need to be tossed. Based on the severity of the situation, our entire home basically needs to be gutted, all sheetrock, insulation, carpet, flooring, cabinets removed, entire HVAC system replaced, etc.
Currently, we are living off one income since John unselfishly took a leave of absence from his job to be able to facilitate the twins online learning due to COVID. We are really struggling to understand how we are going to do what is being advised and the need to basically start from scratch. This is where you all, our much needed village, come into the picture...hopefully and prayerfully!
Our home/lives are being turned upside down right now by the situation we are in. Not only do we need to get Drew out of this toxic environment so he can begin to heal, we also have to consider how every step/change/decision is going to affect each of the boys. Anxiety is high, but we have faith! We will never give up fighting for our family and will do whatever it takes to keep our boys safe and to see a smile on Drew’s face again.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!
Blessings to you all,
Jen & John Brands
Organizer and beneficiary
Matt O'Shea
Organizer
Willow Street, PA
Jennifer Brands
Beneficiary