My Story

My name is Jen, and I became a widow just 10 months ago. This is a long story, but I need to explain why I am terrified living in what should have been my safe place—my own home. If you can share this with everyone I would be sooo very grateful. ❤️❤️❤️

On the outside, my house may look fine. But inside, it is falling apart, and I am out of options.

I am raising two little boys—our 3-year-old son we adopted last May, and his older half-brother, who is also my grandson. This home was supposed to be our forever home—our safe haven after years of struggle, sickness, and sacrifice. Instead, it has become a nightmare.

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How It Started

Three years ago, my husband and I bought this mobile home during COVID. He was very sick from chemo and cancer treatments, but we were so hopeful. We thought this house would be our retirement dream—low maintenance, safe, and ours.

We only got a quick look at part of the house before signing, because he was weak and I was carrying the baby. It looked nice enough in the fading light, and we trusted what we saw.

When it was finally set up, we were devastated. The cabinets weren’t real wood—they were paper-coated and already peeling. The flooring was flimsy. Nails stuck up through the linoleum. The “dream” we had signed for was already showing cracks.

But we tried to make the best of it, because all we wanted was a little home together.

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The Bigger Problems

Not long after moving in, we discovered a major hidden issue: a hot water line had been sliced during installation, and water had been leaking under the house—for over a year. That hidden leak damaged the floors, left soft spots, and created humidity that we didn’t understand until it was too late.

I now have large areas in my master bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room where the floor is literally unsafe. In some places, the only thing keeping me from falling through is the thin vinyl. I cannot safely use half of my bedroom. I am also very concerned with mold and mildew. I’ve smelled it for a while that old stale moldy smell so I’m concerned about what’s going on underneath the vinyl and underneath flooring. And how far throughout the house it’s gonna be.

The builder used OSB board instead of proper subfloor plywood, so the damage spread quickly. Every time I step on those weak spots, I am terrified of getting hurt—or worse, one of the boys getting injured. The problem with this OSB board is that it’s very porous and that the glue doesn’t hold up once it gets wet. Even just steam can cause it to start to separate and we get a lot of humidity in Texas.

To make matters worse, my insurance claim was denied. They said we didn’t “mitigate” the damage in time. But the truth is—the house never fully dried, my husband was critically ill, and then he passed away. I was doing all I could just to keep our family afloat.

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Where I Am Now

I am living on a fixed income as a widow, raising two little ones. This house was supposed to give us stability. Instead, I am walking on duct tape patches over holes in the floor, praying every day that nothing collapses under our feet.

Some kind women in a support group encouraged me to set up this fundraiser. As much as I hate asking for help, I truly don’t know where else to turn.

The repairs will likely cost around $50,000—possibly more. It involves tearing out and rebuilding large portions of the flooring, replacing the damaged areas, and making sure the house is finally safe. I will lose access to about 1/3 of my home. The areas that need to be replaced are going to be the kitchen the laundry room, the master bedroom and the master bathroom. My bedroom is in the middle of all of that part of the living area and dining area. and then there are some spots that are developing on the other end of the home. So this is not going to be an easy thing by any means. I won’t be able to rent somewhere to live because of all of my pets. We will be stuck camping out in my uninsulated garage. And I mean literally camping because I don’t have a camper or anything like that. But it’s OK. I know the Lord will take care of us and provide. When they get into this and they start ripping up the flooring and they’re gonna have to take out some of the walls so they can get under those boards and replace the subfloor correctly. In order to do that I’m going to lose the makeshift cabinets that they put in these mobile homes. i’m also concerned about the electrical and it’s exposure to the moisture in the water. All thanks to a builder error..

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How You Can Help

If you are able to donate, share, or even connect me with resources, charities, or skilled workers who might be able to help, I would be deeply grateful.

I don’t want to give up on the little piece of land and home my husband and I worked nearly 30 years for. All I want is to make it safe again for me and the boys—to build the quiet, steady life we dreamed of..

’ It’s just really hard. Not having any resources to do this. I have been crying myself to sleep a lot of nights. probably because of grief and a lot of it because of the stress of this house.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story, and for any help, prayers, or kindness you can give.

I added a few photos to show some of the duct taping on the floor. You can see one particular picture shows the line where one of the boards is coming through and you can see the nails. I can’t show you the soft spots because they don’t show up with the lighting in the house but they’re bad. The ones in my bedroom when I step on it, not full weight but push on it are about a half inch concave my full weight probably more. If I wore heels, I would puncture the vinyl and it would be a mess. Mobile homes are elevated by a couple of feet. So if I were to fall through, I would most certainly break a leg and or my hip.. I do not have health insurance. I’m too young for Medicare and I can’t afford anything through the marketplace. So this is very scary in every aspect. And another consideration is that a few nights ago we managed to get a snake off the front porch with the shovel, but before I could actually kill the darn thing, it got away and went under the house. We also have scorpions, black widows, brown recluse, and hornets or wasp or whatever you wanna call them that seem to have taken up home underneath the home. Any opening would expose us to those things. I don’t have to worry too much about field mice because I have my cats. But the rest of it’s very scary.

I just want the nightmare to be fixed and over with and everything to be OK. It shouldn’t be this bad. House is only three years old.

With gratitude,

Jen