The short and sweet: Richard needs ankle surgery to fuse the bones of his left ankle which has lost all the tissue between the bones. Richard has had to retire from his job since as a mail carrier he has a 6-day-a-week commitment and it requires him to be on his feet, which he will not have the capacity for even after a full recovery. He will need to stay in Albuquerque to remain close to services and for checkups as his recovery progresses. Jubilee and Lily will be flying down from Oregon to provide post-surgery care and assist with his recovery. This GoFundMe is to help alleviate some of the costs involved with bringing in support from out of state, having a safe place for Richard to heal, and supporting the family in the following months. Thank you for anything you can put toward this.
The longer version:
Hello, our names are Lily and Jubilee Hawley. Many people know our parents Richard and Tupper Hawley, because they are incredible artists, and pillars in their community in Northern NM. They are the first people to offer food, clothes, or a place to stay, even to strangers. They have run the Santo Nino Food Pantry for over twenty years and have been helping to raise their two youngest grandchildren, Hope (six years old) and Coda (5 years old). Our parents are both in their late sixties and live incredibly rurally in a house that was built without a level and certainly not with the accessibility of an ankle surgery patient in mind.
Richard is the kindest and gentlest man, always willing to go far beyond what his body can handle in service of others and it has taken its toll. He has continued to walk on an ankle that needs to be fused working 6 days a week as a mail carrier, running the food pantry, taking care of the children, and caring for their animals and the land out in Carson where they live. After much convincing, he has agreed to get the surgery that will allow him to continue caring both for his family and the wider community, despite the fact that it means he will need to allow himself to be the one who is cared for, for a time.
It has been a hard sell, he will be off his feet for a bare minimum of eight weeks with a full recovery estimated to take six months. He has had to give up his job and the burden of caring for the house in Carson and the little family will fall mainly to Tupper and Sammy, but without the financial support of his job. The house in Carson is eclectic and so dear, but not suitable for recovery, there is one bathroom that would require navigating uneven flooring, rugs, children's toys and stairs (not to mention two enthusiastic children who love their grandfather but do not understand not jostling a healing ankle post-surgery).
The details:
The surgery itself is slated for April 12th and Jubilee and Lily will be flying down from Oregon and renting an Air BnB for a month to help with the after-surgery recovery, potentially more if the need arises. We are asking for $7,000. $2000 of which will go to cover the AirBnB for the month, with some going to offset the cost of flights (especially if Richard's recovery progresses slowly and we have to fly him to Oregon to continue caring for him). Anything remaining will go towards groceries and necessities for the family for the next six months.
We so appreciate anything you can put towards helping these wonderful people who have dedicated their lives to helping others.
