Hi, my name is Carole Claps. Many of you know me from the Darien Arts Center, Curtain Call Theatre, the New Canaan Powerhouse Theatre and the Westport Country Playhouse.

I met Chloe Bolt (you may remember her as Chloe Sasson) through Alice Myers and Joel Martin -- all blessed with talent beyond belief. With hearts full of goodness and kindness.

Chloe's daughter, Daphne, a brilliant musician in her own right found a way to continue to teach music to her students even during the COVID crisis.

Two years ago Daphne bought a 2015 Ford Transit 250 high roof, short wheel base cargo van. It would become her dream home. With no prior building experience, she converted it to be a fully functional home complete with a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and music studio. She moved in in August of 2020 and hit the road full time. She was a freelance musician in NY and had lost all herperforming work to COVID but was lucky to have a full roster of private students she could teach from the van.

She traveled to all four corners of the country in the van from NY to Key West to LA to Seattle. Two weeks ago, while exploring the beautiful Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, she lost it all -- and almost lost her life.

A driver went through a stop sign and hit the moving van on the passenger side. It was tossed in the air and landed on the driver's side wall. She remained conscious pinned to the driver’s seat. When it stopped moving sheunbuckled the seat belt and scooped up her dog, Izzy, who had landed on the driver's window air bag. She carried Izzy through her home, walking on the walls to climb out of the back doors.

She spent two days at the tow yard with a rented Uhaul salvaging what she could from the van.

She hopes to return to NY next week and start all over again and build herself another dream home.

In Daphne's own words:

The van taught me so much. The van taught me to be patient with my dreams and kind to myself. I learned to take my time and that small moments are precious. My friends and family gathered in the van. Beautiful meals were made in my tiny kitchen. Sometimes I shared them with strangers, sometimes with a loved one or sometimes just with Izzy and a beautiful view. My boyfriend became my partner in the van. My boyfriend Matt and I built the van in 13 months for me to live in alone. Every time we laid down on the bed we took a minute to marvel at the beautiful home we built with our blood sweat and tears. He fell in love with van life on his first van visit to Acadia National Park.

At the time I was hit, he was on the phone accepting an offer on his house to come live and travel with me full time. The van reminded me to make memories and make them fast. To cherish adventure, to foster connection and to share. Strangers approached me while pumping gas to ask about the van. They told me about their dreams and congratulated me on living mine. I was connected to my deepest self out there on the road, making new friends everyday from the comfort of my home. I learned that if I could dream it, it was possible and I was just getting started.

This accident won’t stop me but it has slowed me down. It will be a long road to rebuild. I have physical and emotional wounds to heal as well as high costs to cover.

PLEASE HELP BRING DAPHNE HOME. They had to borrow money and have already spent more than $12,000 and she hasn't even gotten out of Seattle.

I know the family would be so gratful for any help they receive. These are good people. People that I am honored to call my friends.

This was Daphne's dream home before the accident.

This is just the driver's side after the crash. The airbags saved her life, but her neck was burned from the seatbelt.