My name is Julie. My son, Tyler, my only child, died by suicide in August of 2020. I owned a boutique, and between COVID and his death, I had to shutter my business. We sold our house and put everything in storage while we spent time in the sun in Arizona at a care farm for the traumatically bereaved. We came back to Oregon, and after a year in a tiny apartment, we found a house we could afford to rent. We moved in December of 2024. We didn’t know it had major habitability issues.

It’s been one thing after another with a very difficult landlord. In February, an electrician was working on wiring in the basement ceiling and unknowingly sawed into mold. We’re moving but wanted to have our items tested for mold before moving them into a new space. The items in the basement tested positive for mold growth. These items include every single thing I have left of Tyler and our life together and all of my art supplies. Last year, I started teaching grief art classes.

We have to move by Friday but cannot move our items out of the basement ourselves because of the mold. All of the items will need to be professionally cleaned. We have spent all of the money we had saved on the move in December, this current move, mold testing, and an exhaustive list of other expenses that we’ve incurred because of the habitability issues in this house. Our options are to leave everything in the basement behind or figure out a way to pay for them to be moved and cleaned in a safe way. Servpro (see attached photos) have been great. They reduced their cost from $2,700 to $2,200, but we still can’t afford it. I hate asking for help, but I need help. I can’t leave these items behind. They are my connection to my son and some practical items we really need and wouldn’t be financially able to replace.

Thank you for reading my story.