While my wife and I were out of state visiting our grandchildren, a burst water pipe under our floor slab flooded our home and ruined nearly everything we owned. We have been married for 45 years, and in a moment, we lost our furniture, clothing, appliances, food, photo albums, papers, artwork, and inherited antiques. We came back to a home that was no longer livable, and now we are suddenly homeless with only the clothes we had packed in our suitcases.

Since this happened, we have been moving from hotel to hotel and trying to figure out how to start over. A reclamation expert who surveyed the damage told us our insurance will reimburse only a small fraction ($100K max) of what we have lost ($350K+ and counting as we go through all our ruined belongings), so instead of the retirement we had planned for, our days are now consumed with insurance claims, searching for a place to live, and trying to rebuild our lives one piece at a time.

To help donors understand the full picture, our need falls into three tiers. About $20,000 would go toward immediate needs like replacing food, basic housewares, winter clothes, and medication. We’ve suffered further complete loss from a laundry company to ALL of our clothing, bedding, bath & kitchen linens, suits and dresses, so will need $20,000 more to replace our entire household of garments and linens. An estimated $15,000 would help us try to save our 45 years of damaged photo albums and precious keepsakes, including my wife’s grandpa’s fiddle and my great-grandmother’s homespun quilt square. A down payment on a home would be $39,000, which would give us a path toward having a place of our own again. We had previously been homeowners for 40 years, but have been renters in FL, and have been saving up a downpayment towards a place of our own again, but now are going to have to use downpayment money to replace the other $250k+ of necessities that we suddenly lost.

We are also dealing with serious health challenges. I live with Crohn’s IBD, my wife is dealing with hypothyroidism and post-viral myocarditis, and both of us have chronic Lyme disease. Because of this, continuing a core few of our essential medications and supplements is not optional for us and is necessary to prevent serious consequences.

Our situation is especially urgent because the rental cabin we are staying in is only available for less than three more weeks. After that, we will need to find and afford another place to stay. Because we have allergies and two sweet dogs, finding housing is even more complicated and time-sensitive.

Any help would mean so much to us. Your support will help us meet our immediate needs, preserve what memories we can, and take the first steps toward having a home again. If you are not able to donate, sharing our fundraiser would also be a true gift.