Laughter Family Home Fund

We are Elisabeth, a catholic school kindergarten teacher, and Jonathan Laughter, a plumber. Together, with our sons Andrew (4 years old) and Jacob (5 months old) we toured a 1000 sq. ft. home Sunday morning. We fell in love with everything about it. We immediately pictured our boys enjoying the swing set Santa delivered last year in the fantastic hideaway backyard. We envisioned family dinners in the dining room prepared in the cozy kitchen. We saw our family cuddled up on the couch watching a movie in the living room. We could absolutely see ourselves turning the house into our family’s home.

We wanted to share a little bit of our story. We were married in 2017. We found out we were expecting our first son while renting a home in Mira Mesa. Our brother owned a home in Oak Park, just five miles west of the house we are hoping for. He welcomed us to move into his house in the summer of 2019, just three months before Andrew was born. That house has been our home ever since. During the past four years, our family has experienced all types of incredible highs and intense lows, as most families do. In the spring of 2021, we found out we were expecting again. However, very early on in the pregnancy, we received a Down Syndrome diagnosis. We had to take a very long, thorough look at our lives and what we, two full time working parents, would be able to offer the baby, and came the heart wrenching realization that we just did not have what it would take to raise a child with special needs in our beautiful, yet very expensive city. After countless tears, much deliberation, and the loss of some of our family and friends, we found our “unicorn” family and placed our son in an open adoption. They are a beyond remarkable family and can provide everything for our Baby Ben that we never could. They live nearby in Clairemont and thankfully, we see them often.

We share this part of our story to help illustrate why leaving San Diego could never be an option for us. With the housing market as expensive as it is, we have entertained the possibility of homes as far out as Campo and Julian just to stay within a “driving” distance of our son. However, for various reasons, including fire insurance, they are beyond our budget. Because of this we have found ourselves back to house hunting in San Diego proper. Since then, our family continued to experience a wide range of growth and loss. Just months after we made our Ben decision, Jonny was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in January of 2022. Luckily, this was a short but scary experience. With a quick surgery, it was fully removed and he has been cancer free since then. However, in April of 2022, Jonny’s dad was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer. Jonny has three sisters, all married and with children. From April 2022 to May 2023, when we lost Grandpa Scott, Jonny’s parents were surrounded with all of their children and grandchildren for weekly dinner, and towards the end, on a nightly basis. We held each other very close. Luckily, the physical distance between us allowed for that to happen as their home is located in North Park. We welcomed our Jakey mid June- which was absolutely a welcome, happy distraction after the devastating loss of Jonny’s dad. We welcomed his cousin Charles, Jonny’s younger sister’s second 3 weeks later in July. However, just two weeks into the chaos of newborn life, our brother informed us he would be selling the house we have called home for four and a half years. He wanted us to vacate the home by January 2024 so he could sell it. Right away we reached out to him about selling us his house, but he does not want to sell to us because he didn’t agree with our decision regarding Baby Ben. Unfortunately, it was not in our family plan to be purchasing a home for at least the next two years. Transitioning from renting our brother’s house for far below the current San Diego rental market, to another rental would mean we would never be able to save to buy a house in the future. We would be living paycheck to paycheck each month. We realize unless we make the jump now from renting to owning, we can not guarantee staying in San Diego and close to our Ben as the housing and rental markets continue to climb and renting doesn’t guarantee us a permanent home in San Diego.

We understand that we are asking a lot of those who know us and those who might only be connected to us through someone else. We know that we are only able to receive the blessings we ask for and are truly thankful for any amount you are able to share with us and even more for sharing this story and this page with anyone you are able to.

Thank you form the bottoms of our hearts,

The Laughter Family