Keep a roof over Moo's head & food in Moo's bowl

Hi. This is Katie (& Allegra). This GFM was started for Moo & her humans, Brad & Angi. You may know them on Twitter as @CalicoCrew1 #CalicoCrew.

EDITED March 6, 2024

I am sad to tell you Brad passed away last night. He was with Angi and Moo, not in a hospital or rehab, so he had those dearest to him when he died. It appears he had a heart attack. Brad did not want a formal funeral or memorial service, but requested that his life be celebrated on line with the #CalicoCrew and his other friends. Neither Angi nor I are sure when and in what format that will be, but we'll let you know.

Angi will be staying at the motel for the immediate future. She will need donations to help with funeral expenses rent, Uber rides to doctors and other appointments, and incidental expenses. She promises to pay your kindness forward

Brad's SSDI appeal hearing is scheduled in May. If his application is granted, she will receive the funds he was due. (It's probably a bit more complicated than that, but that's the general udea.)

Condolences can be sent to Kaptnahab1975. [@] twitter [.] com or Kaptnahab. [@] bsky [dot] social In lieu of flowers, donations to a cat charity are appreciated. The memorial service information will contain information about the charity.

Here's a link to Brad's obituary.

https://www.parthemore.com/obituaries/brad-ort

I have added the $2100 funeral home bill to this GoFundMe's goal

EDITED December 13, 2023

I started this fundraiser on 8/17/21. Angi had started one when Brad was hospitalized for the first of his amputations. He suffered complications. I offered to give them a hand when they were trying to stave off eviction by selling their car. They sold the car but ended uo getting evicted anyway. It's been one health crisis after another since then. We've had our hearts broken when Brad's application for Social Security Disability (SSDI) was denied. Brad's heart was broken again when his first appeal was denied. His lawyers sought a review of the denial. Brad's spirits were dashed in December 2023 when his lawyer told him it might be a year before his case was heard by an administrative law judge. Nearly all SSDI applications are denied initially, but Brad's health had deteriorated significantly between 2019 and 2022, so the denial was a big blow.

I've increased the fundraising goal to cover estimated bare bones living and unreimbursed medical expenses from January - June, 2024.

They had been getting some help from county & state agencies during the covid crises, but those programs are over. In the cruelest of ironies, the donations which help pay for their motel rent make them ineligible for food stamps. They were placed on the waiting list for Section 8 housing in 2019. They've been told they won't get a place until 2025. They're on a waiting list for transitional housing, but every time there's a homeless sweep, the unhooked go to the top of the line.

They're trying to do what they can to earn money through merch and calendar sales (check out Shop.CalicoCrew.Com), but proceeds are sporadic and nowhere near enough to live on. Brad set up a Patreon (Patreon.com/CalicoCrew), which currently has 19 patrons paying between $5 - $30 a month. Please check it out. Some contents are free.

Let me tell you about them and what they've been through since 2019.

Brad is 49. He lives just outside of Harrisburg PA. He's a loyal Baltimore Orioles fan. His interests include WWE, gaming, graphic design, movies, Stephen King, William Shakespeare, rock and roll - all music, he corrected me - and cats.

He's held a variety of jobs. He injured his back at his last one while trying to wrangle a 150 lb Christmas tree off the back of a truck parked on a snow-covered steeply sloping driveway. He filed a workers compensation claim. Shortly after that, his at-will employer stopped giving him hours. Brad filed the first of several SSDI claims.

In February 2020 he had a surgical ablution on one side of his back to reduce the severe back pain. He was scheduled for an operation on the other side, but COVID hit and all elective surgeries were cancelled.

Brad didn't stay out of the hospital long, though. He had a heart attack which led to a sextuple bypass.

His primary care doctor didn't do him any favors, either, by attributing Brad's report of issues with his foot to diabetes without actually examining it. It turns out he had a broken toe. The misdiagnosis and delay led to a partial amputation. His ability to walk and to balance is severely impacted. This September, the big toe on his other foot was amputated.

In all, he's had 11 operations in the past 4 years including the sextuple bypass, 2 carotid artery surgeries, and the partial foot and big toe amputations. There were complications with some of these procedures leading to prolonged hospitalizations. He's still under ongoing medical care and has some specialust referrals scheduled, along with follow-up appointments for his recent amputation.

These surgeries and hospitalizations have left him broke, unable to work, fighting eviction (but ultimately getting evicted) and, at times, clinically depressed and anxious. Angi had to quit her job to help care for him. She was recently seen in ER for pulmonary edema and has a follow-up appointment in January. Their calico cat Moo has been a source of joy, comfort, irresistible cuteness and cattitude. She inspired the creation of the on-line #CalicoCrew community. She shares her insights and plenty of cute pictures in the Calico Crew Patreon.

Two years ago Brad and Angi sold their car to pay the rent. Brad was forced to rely on the stepfather who sexually abused him as a child for rides to medical appointments.* InJanuary 2023, the stepfather started hitting on Brad's wife, setting both of them into a panicked tailspin. Brad's complex PTSD was retriggered and I became concerned for his well-being.

Then Brad had a big blow out with his stepfather. He told me, "I've been cut off completely from my family. Fuck it all. Sorry [for the language]. Not from you, Angi, Moo, & the Crew. Just having a really bad day."

Brad, Angi, and Moo are grateful beyond words for all the support they've received. Brad's a proud man. He's doing what he can to earn a little money from his merch shop and calendar sales. The Calico Crew Patreon account allows Moo to share her daily diary entries. Brad shares pictures of Moo, useful cat information and an occasional Dad joke or two. Patrons receive a variety of gifts, depending upon their levels of support. Many of Moo's initial diary entries are unlocked and available at Patreon.Com/CalicoCrew.

* Available publically provided transist options are vary problematic for Brad. It's a big digression to get into all the specific reasons why here, but we'd be happy to individually answer questions you may have.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Several other edits to the original post are below followed by my original introductory statement.

²EDITED 2/14/23 the GoFundMe team reached out and requested that I post a disclaimer that no raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for donations made to GoFundMe.

EDITED 1/19/23

Brad has an appointment on 1/24 with a doctor who will examine him for his disability claim. Keep your fingers crossed and send good vibes his way!

They haven't moved yet because their landlords didn't follow through on the tentative agreement they has where the landlords would help out with the move. There's still no court date for the eviction appeal.

Please read Brad's recent blog entry at CalicoCrew.com. He shared some difficult personal news. He relies on others for transportation to medical appointments. (They sold their car last year to pay the rent.) This situation has become untenable. It would very a godsend if we raised enough money for them to buy a "beater" used car. The current situation is just awful for Brad.

EDITED 9/19

Brad, Angi and Moo have to move by January 9, 2023. They are still recovering from covid, but hope to be well by then. I've updated the GoFundMe to include estimated expenses through March, 2023 (See update #31)

EDITED 9/17

Brad, Angi and Moo lost their eviction hearing. They are appealing the ruling, but in the meantime need to come up with approximately $2800 in past rent (plus court costs). It will be about 60 days before they hear whether Brad's disability application is approved. I've adjusted the goal to include a month's rent & expenses and the back rent.

EDITED 9/8

HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED. MOO & FAMILY HAVE RECEIVED AN EVICTION NOTICE. HEARING IS 9/14. They need your help packing & moving stuff to storage in Harrisburg PA area this weekend. ($ appreciated, too.) Brad is disabled- 2 strokes, partial foot amputation, back injury, heart surgeries. Angi had a fall recently & is still bruised. Landlord kicking them out to remodel & raise rent. The person they had lined up to drive the uhall was just diagnosed with Covid.

Can you lend a hand or a paw? Can you ask around with your friends/family??? @RoseKatieCats1 Many thanks.

EDITED 9/1. A lot has happened since we started this fundraiser. The good: over 100 kind people donated & we met our initial goal. The bad: Moo & family are getting evicted. Their new landlords are kicking everyone out so they can "remodel" & raise rents for new tenants. I'm changing our goal to add rental & living expense of moving to a motel for a month. BTW if you're in the Harrisburg area they could use help packing & moving. END EDIT.

You probably don't know that Brad's SIXTH surgery and EIGHTH hospitalization in two years [was] set for July 11. ‍⚕️

You probably don't know that he's been unable to work and Angi's not working because she needs to help with his care.

You probably don't know that they sold their car earlier this year to pay rent. You probably don't know they owe June's rent and haven't paid July rent yet. You probably don't know they currently have $111 in unpaid electricity bills.

You probably don't know that Brad's application for disability has been held up for months.

AND You probably don't know that they are down to just one bag of kibble and a few cans of cat food.

The funds from this fundraiser will be spent on kibble, canned wet food and kitty litter.

And past due rent. And past due $. And transportation to and from MD appointments. And food for the humans. And other urgent and necessary expenses like August's rent and utilities. EDIT And $2092 for 1 month motel rental/living expenses. END EDIT.

You probably didn't know that when I first told Brad about my idea for this fundraiser for Moo, I asked him about a fundraising goal. You probably didn't know that he initially said $1000-1500. You probably didn't know that I asked him about his past due rent and utilities and he told me it was more than the $1000-1500 he proposed. Times are tough for a lot of people, he or Angi once told me. We're grateful for prayers and good wishes and whatever help they are able to offer, they said. And that's true. But you probably CAN guess I thought that asking for enough money to see them through August or beyond was best.

If you're not comfortable using GoFundMe, there's PayPal.me/CalicoCrew

And there's the Calico Crew shop at Spring for Creators. Shop.CalicoCrew.Com

Their cute hoodie kept me warm all winter. Lots of cool stuff there. Check it out.

Angi had set up a GoFundMe for Brad earlier in his on-going health challenges. It's still up there. But it doesn't mention keeping a roof over MY head and Kibble in MY bowl. Besides, I'm way cuter than Brad. Who could resist this adorable face?

Thank you all for reading this. It'd be lovely if you retweeted it, mentioned it on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and all your social media accounts and spread the word about Brad's story to all your friends, family and colleagues.

Meow.