Mike and Emily Wilson Family Fund

Hi, my name is Bill McLaughlin and I am hoping to raise funds for my neighbors Mike and Emily Wilson who have undergone extreme hardships within their family over the last two year period causing them severe debt. Their complete story is captured below:

The Wilson family has faced extraordinary health and financial challenges during the past two years. The family has been displaced from their home twice while undergoing major repairs from sudden water damage and contractor errors, during which time Mrs. Wilson has been battling an aggressive cancer, while having two medically complex children with varying degrees of special needs that require one-on-one attention.

Emily and her husband, Mike, have been happily married for over 20 years. They bought their home in Cary, NC eleven years ago and have raised their children there. They are parents of two elementary school age children, Mariah (age 11 years) and Asher (age 7 years). Rescue pup and certified therapy dog, Fancy rounds out their family.

The Wilsons have been an active family, and enjoy hiking and walking together in the neighborhood. Emily is a North Carolina native and grew up in Manteo, graduating with a pharmacy degree from UNC-Chapel Hill, while Mike was born and grew up in Durham and graduated from Elon University with a major in accounting.

Emily practiced pharmacy full-time for several years and continued working part-time as a pharmacist after their children were born. Because of the children’s health issues, Emily had to put her career on hold to care for both children who are severely immunocompromised. Fortunately, Mike’s job allows him to work from home so that he can be more involved in the children’s care as well.

Emily homeschools Mariah, who has multiple learning differences. Mariah enjoys weekly equine therapy and works on speech and occupational therapy skills with a therapist. Mariah loves helping people and wants to work with other children in some capacity one day. Mariah talks excitedly about becoming a doctor, nurse, therapist, or a teacher so she can help other children.

Emily also works with Asher several hours each day to help him regain skills that were lost due to a serious illness. He has a very complicated medical history and has been working to regain language, comprehension, communication, and gross and fine motor skills he once had. Asher receives daily in-home therapies and speech and occupational therapy at a local pediatric clinic.

Asher shows so much pride when he accomplishes his inch-stones, as each skill takes a lot of work and practice. He has been learning how to roller skate with his mom or dad by his side. His face lights up every time he learns a new skill and he is so proud of himself. Mike takes Asher on daily morning walks before his workday begins, while Emily and Mariah begin homeschool.

A year and a half ago, at age 43, Emily received a staggering diagnosis of an aggressive breast cancer that required swift, costly, and time-consuming treatment. She received expert care at Duke Cancer Center, where she had surgery, chemotherapy, and 25 radiation treatments from late 2023 through the summer of 2024. Emily was told both from Duke pathology and from her oncology surgery team that she had a very complex cancer case. It was noted in her medical chart that this was considered a challenging case even for Duke.

Before Emily’s diagnosis, this young family had already demonstrated tremendous resilience in the face of difficult circumstances in daily life. Both children have significant health challenges that leave them medically fragile.

The family’s financial hardships began in late 2022, when a plumbing leak occurred in a wall of their home. As this was being repaired, a contractor error caused extensive water damage in the downstairs of their home which led to mold growth. The mold remediation and repairs were very costly as entire walls and floors in the home and garage had to be completely removed. Unfortunately, NC insurance reimbursement for mold damage caps at $5,000, so the homeowners were stuck with a significant portion of the repairs. The Wilsons were displaced from their home for more than one year, from early December 2022, to moving back in their home at the end of 2023.

Due to the nature of the contractor error, the Wilsons had to work with their insurance company try to get as many repairs covered as possible. They also had to hire a new contractor to finish the job correctly. Unfortunately, because these repairs were complicated much of the work was not covered by insurance. This required significant upheaval for the family and displacement from their home while Emily fought cancer.

Emily began her cancer treatments and surgery while the family was still displaced from their home in late 2023. The family was thankful to be back in their home for Christmas in 2023 as Emily continued her care at Duke.

After the family had started to recover and get settled again, another plumbing leak occurred. In November 2024, just 4 months after Emily had finished active cancer treatments, a plumbing leak occurred underneath the first floor of their home, causing water damage again throughout the first floor. While the damage was not as extensive as the damage caused by the 2022 contractor error, it did require that the Wilsons be displaced from their home once again. So, the family had to reside in temporary housing from November 2024 until April 2025, when they were finally able to move back in their home.

In addition to medical expenses for cancer treatments, the family endured on two separate occasions, extensive repair bills and replacement costs. This caused significant financial hardship for the family as many expenses were unreimbursed or only partially reimbursed. Unreimbursed home repair expenses total $97,697.

Please consider helping this family with your words of support, prayers, and contributions as you are able. We truly appreciate any help or encouragement you provide.

Thank you.