<div><strong><iframe media_type="0" media_id="R7H_HTVxxqo" class="youtube-replace" title="YouTube video player" style="margin-bottom:20px;width:560px;height:315px;" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/R7H_HTVxxqo/?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="1"></iframe><br /><br /><br />My worst nightmare is about to happen.</strong> <strong>My house is going up for tax sale on November 5, 2021.</strong>
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<div>The tax sale had been postponed “indefinitely” due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since tax sales usually
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<div>only occur once per year on May 1st, I was hoping that my house would not be subject to a tax sale until
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<div>May, 2022, giving me the opportunity to raise the funds. I wasn’t even sent a notice of the proposed sale,
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<div>so I was completely caught off guard when I learned about it.
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<div> 
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<div>I am in desperate need of your help. <strong>I need $36,445 immediately to stop my house from being sold for</strong>
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<div><strong>taxes. </strong>I owe $117,040 for 3 years of delinquent taxes (2018, 2019, 2020). The 2018 tax sale is the one
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<div>occurring <strong>on November 5, 2021</strong>.<strong><em> If  I  can  raise </em><em style="font-size:1.0625rem;">$36, 445 in the next 4 weeks, it will stop that tax</em></strong>
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<div><strong><em>sale;</em></strong> otherwise, come November, someone will buy all 3 years of my delinquent taxes, and<strong> I will lose my</strong><br /><strong>home.</strong>
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<div><br /><br />
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<div>The 2019 tax sale is May 1, 2022, so, hopefully, I will raise the remaining   taxes by that time
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<div>($80,595).
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<div> 
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<div><span style="font-size:1.0625rem;"><strong> I want so much to save this historic home – my dad’s last legacy.</strong>   I am the sole survivor of my family, and I have lived in this  <br />houses for 70 years.  I had hopes of it becoming a place to  hold lectures </span>that would benefit children,  but none of this will happen<br />if it is sold for taxes.  <strong>Also, I shall be homeless.<br /><br /></strong>
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<div><strong>My dad</strong>, <strong>Dr. Percy Julian, was the grandson of slaves</strong>. Born in 1899, he grew up in a segregated America,
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<div>and fought racial discrimination the majority of his life; and, yet, he achieved unparalleled acclaim as an
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<div>organic research chemist. My dad was renowned for:
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<ul>
<li>Making cortisone available to millions to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other
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<li>inflammatory conditions, as told in the<strong> NOVA PBS documentary, “Forgotten Genius”</strong>
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<li>Synthesizing a drug to treat the eye disease glaucoma.
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<li>Synthesizing the female sex hormone progesterone, which went into the first birth control pill.
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<li>Developing a fire-fighting foam, saving countless lives during WWII.
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</ul>
<div>He and <strong>my mother, Dr. Anna Julian, who was the first African-American woman to get a Ph.D. in sociology,</strong>
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<div>were both pioneers. Together they broke down racial barriers and overcame violence directed against
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<div>them.
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<div> 
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<div><strong>Our home was bombed in 1951, when we moved into the white suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. </strong>I was seven.
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<div>The previous year, on the night before we were to move in, someone broke into our home, poured
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<div>kerosene on the floors and attempted to torch the house, delaying our move until the following year. The
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<div>night our home was bombed, my brother and I were left alone with a babysitter. My parents had gone to
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<div>Baltimore, Maryland, to attend my grandfather’s funeral. Since my dad had been chosen Chicagoan of the
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<div>Year, the newspapers carried the news of his father’s death.
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<div> 
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<div>The bomb was thrown at my bedroom window, but detonated on the ground, causing minimal damage.
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<div>The damage to my psyche was much worse.<strong> It was one of</strong> t<strong>he most terrifying experiences of my life.</strong> My
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<div>dad had to hire a guard for 2 years, because we couldn’t get police protection. Oak Park turned off our
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<div>water attempting to force us to move. A second bomb was even sent to us in the mail, but was intercepted
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<div>by the post office.
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<div> 
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<div>We received threatening letters for 7 years, notifying my parents that their children “would die” if sent to
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<div>school. We were the only Black children in the entire Oak Park school system for 12 consecutive years.
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<div>When I entered high school, the letters read: “Your son made it through high school, but we’ll see to it
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<div>that your daughter never graduates.” The prophesy almost came true, as I was continuously spat on,
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<div>called the “N” word, and threatened with gang rape. Somehow, I survived all of this and graduated.
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<div><br /><strong>Today, Oak Park honors my dad with a middle school bearing his name and a bust of him in front of the</strong>
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<div><strong>main library.</strong>
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<div> 
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<div><strong>For the past 3 years, the Village of Oak Park has cited me with code violations for needed repairs. The</strong>
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<div><strong>Village has planned to take legal action against me by November 1, 2021,</strong> if the repairs have not been
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<div>made, or if I cannot produce signed contracts from qualified construction companies assuring that the
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<div>work will be done. In order to produce signed contracts, a down payment is required, and I don’t have
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<div>the money. The needed repairs are estimated at $312,000.
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<div><br />I have been very ill. In 2017, I underwent 3 major surgeries and was not expected to live. I was confined
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<div>to the hospital and rehab for 4 months and spent another 4 months with in-home nursing care. My
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<div>wounds failed to heal, so I spent the next 2 years in weekly wound care. Unfortunately, due to the surgery,
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<div>I was left with permanent injuries that necessitate my using a walker. My medical expenses are $32,654
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<div>(includes hospital bills, medicine, and insurance).
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<div><br /><strong>I have fallen on hard times.</strong> I have exhausted my savings. I have zero income – no social security, no
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<div>pension.<br /><br />The $1,115,000  needed will include:
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<ul>
<li> Delinquent property taxes $117,040;
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<li> Projected property tax in 2021 $49,493;
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<li> House related expenses through 2022 $72,744 (includes utilities, telephone, insurance, landscaping,
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<li>supplies, cleanup, organizer);
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<li> Medical expenses $32,654;
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<li> Repairs $312,000;
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<li> Credit card debt $210,568 ($109,654 in debt collection);
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<li> Loans $188,000 (includes $40,000 to the Village of Oak Park); and
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<li>Living expenses for 2 years $132,500.
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</ul>
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<div>The Bible says, “to whom much is given, much is required.” I have tried my whole life to help others. My
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<div>parents instilled this in me. I promise you, if I am able to save my house from tax sales and liens and climb
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<div>out of this horrendous debt, I will pay my good fortune forward. Please help.<strong> Thank you from the bottom</strong>
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<div><strong>of my heart.</strong>
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<div> 
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<div>Please share my gofundme with friends and family through Facebook, Twitter, Emails, texting, snail mail
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<div>– any way you can. Thanks so much.
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Symone McWhorter

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Preservation Of The Percy Julian Historic Home

Preservation Of The Percy Julian Historic Home

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