Help Me Keep Our Family Home
Donation protected
Foreclosure Hearing Postponed Due to Mom's Death
I'm trying to get enough to pay the mortgage off in full, approximately $18,374 plus attorney fees. I cashed in an insurance policy and have made arrangements to have Mom's MetLife stock redeemed for money to pay the mortgage.
In the meantime, the homeowners' insurance is due ($866) and I just don't have it. I have various personal items for sale, but they're not selling. Please consider purchasing something or make a donation here. I'm going to be $3,000-$4,000 short. Thanks to everyone who has donated and shared. God bless you.
My home was my mother's dream. It was built here in 1979 on the site of an old one- room schoolhouse and church building called "Rocky Hill", on land that was part of her father's (my grandfather, "Pa Fred" Ray) farm just outside Gamaliel, KY. I have a picture of the old building, and have bricks and a square nail. The large foundation stones are here also. I have a deep connection to this place. The view from here is majestic.
My father died in 1988 of leukemia. He had told Mom she'd never live to see the house paid off. Dad's passing was a huge blow to Mom and me. Subsequent traumatic events have left me with clinical depression and anxiety, along with agorophobia, PTSD, OCD and hoarding tendencies. I've taken medication for it most of my adult life. My mental health and other physical conditions make it very difficult to find and maintain gainful employment. I survived metastatic melanoma cancer 8 years ago, at which time I applied for disability, but wasn't approved. The judge told my lawyer "mental and emotional issues don't carry much weight" in his courtroom. Just another example of the misunderstanding and stigma associated with mental illness. I'm sure Robin Williams and Wynonna Judd understand.
My mother worked hard, well past her retirement age, to try to pay off the mortgage and have peace, knowing the house would be my home indefinitely. She had a life insurance policy with MetLife, and was under the impression that the dividends from investments were paying the premium. When she inquired about it a year ago, she was told that the policy had lapsed due to non-payment, and had not been in effect for 11 years. Mom served in two elected offices and had a head for numbers. She would NOT have forgotten about a notice to such effect. From what I've learned, this is not at all uncommon among this company, and there are literally hundreds of complaints from people in similar situations. This was the only life insurance she had.
Mom's health had been declining for about two years, and last fall she fell behind on the mortgage. She had severe back issues, and fell here at home several times, making it worse. As her mobility decreased, so did her dependence on me to be here and attend to her needs. But it wasn't long before she started having abdominal pain and incontinence, and on January 5th she agreed to be taken to the hospital. They found out Mom had colon cancer. She had surgery, but the cancer was too far advanced and too widespread to be treated with chemotherapy or radiation. Mom passed away Thursday, March 23rd, one day shy of her 84th birthday. Her funeral is today, March 28, in just a few short hours.
The foreclosure hearing is April 20. The amount that must be paid to bring the mortgage current and delay foreclosure is almost $7,000. The total amount to pay off the mortgage is about $20,000. Please help me keep our home, and give me a place to grow old, and fulfill one of my Mother's strongest desires, to pay off this house, on historic "Rocky Hill."
Organizer
James Jernigan
Organizer
Gamaliel, KY