Riley's Exhausted!

November 24,2020




To all interested,

I am writing this letter to share a story and reach out for support for a family that is special to me and that needs help.

Everyone finds themselves in hard situations from time to time and once you have been through difficulties you look back and and are so grateful you made it
through. However, many issues can only get better when we get support from
family and friends.

In some situations, like this one, the needs are too great even with the help of family and friends and now help is needed from a much broader scope. Many people
have already helped this family out and that is largely how they have coped so far   and it's greatly appreciated.

The story I am speaking about is Riley Smith and Melissa Londry (both 27) and their kids Peyton 6, Hunter 2, Case 1,River 1, and Rawlings 1 from Rocklyn. That's
right, five kids, four under the age of THREE!


Riley and Melissa have been doing an amazing job looking after their children and all the kids are doing well and getting big and busy! Since giving childbirth to the
triplets Melissia has been experiencing a lot of health issues. This past summer
these issues have intensified to the point where she is not capable of helping
much with the kids or the home. Even lifting the triplets is not possible without
painful and lingering effects.

 
To be honest, many people ask me why Riley isn't working. The truth is, it's just
not possible! Please imagine yourself with triplets, a two year old and a six year
old and on top of that a partner struggling with extreme health concerns. Riley
doesn't have time to sleep, eat, or look after himself let alone hold a job. However, that said, they were able to grow an extremely successful garden this summer
which has been a great tool to feed the family.


Their immediate families are tapped out, emotionally and financially. Covid has
added another extremely challenging dimension to the story and has made it
impossible to get in home help.

 
The immediate struggles Riley is facing include the fact that Melissia has many
medical appointments coming up and he needs to take her. This means getting all the kids in a vehicle and sitting for hours at a time in a parking lot. Not many of us can volunteer to go babysit 4-5 kids at a time. The thought is absolutely
frightening for me although gramma and great gramma brave it out!

I feel very helpless as an individual in trying to help these kids with their kids! This is just not a normal bad luck story. Just when you do something you think will be
helpful you see another incredibly difficult situation ahead. I watch the family
stretched emotionally and financially handcuffed.


We are endeavoring to try and organize a few small things to take the weight off
and allow Melissia to recover and Riley to stay able to raise his family and get
some help and have time to breathe. I have already reached out to close friends
and asked for people to make kid friendly meals that can be frozen and have had
positive response to this, including getting a freezer from MacDonalds of
Meaford, Thank's Greg! I am aware that not everyone loves cooking and finds it
difficult enough to get dinner on their own tables. I have found a person that will
cook meals but cannot afford all the materials to do so. I am writing this, in hopes that anyone who reads this, and has the ability to, will make a frozen meal, buy a
frozen meal or donate groceries or money to the cause. We are happy to pick
these up and deliver!

Additionally, we are trying to enable the kids getting into Daycare. Bobi from
Bobi's Play School has agreed to take them and is willing to do all she can to
ensure they have a safe place and will provide support to Riley and Melissia as
much as possible. Rich and I are going to get them started however, we cannot do it all and would very much appreciate any help possible.   We are hoping that funding becomes available and Bobi is looking into this.


They say it takes a village, in this case they are not wrong! If you can offer any
kind of help at all please let us know. It does not have to be in ways I have addressed. They need many things and everyone has their own special ways of support. I already have a people offering to help with some fire wood, gas cards gift cards
and Christmas gifts. There are many ways we could fund raise etc. to keep helping this family in the future. Rich and I are trying to get a ball rolling but we would like help and suggestions. There are so many needs and we are just focusing on the
immediate issues to start with. Its hard for people to know what to do and how to help as they don't want to interfere. Please feel free to ask me. However, as I
mentioned it can be so discouraging for Riley, Melissa, family and friends because just as one need gets addressed another issue is coming down the tracks. At this
point, beyond the obvious health concerns, the train coming  is the fact Riley and Melissa and family are losing their rental home. In the near future, they will need a house big enough for a family of 7! They would obviously prefer and do best in
the Rocklyn-Craiglieth area where they have support. If you know of any home
available to rent coming up please let us know. Money donated will also be
needed for first and last months rent and moving expenses.

This has been quite the year and everyone is going through many challenges. So
even if all you can do is pass this story on to someone else you have done a lot!

If you wish to donate directly to daycare let me know and I can give you the
information or call Bobi directly.  For those, that are not good with computers and don't bank on line, just let me know and I can pick up gift cards or anything you
wish to give. 


First and foremost, we hope to secure day care for Hunter on a regular basis and
the Triplets when needed for appointments. The cost per child is 40 dollars a day. Bobi will be trying to get subsidies for them but we will not know for awhile if this is going to happen. That amounts to $160.00 per day when all four are there.
Hunter is started daycare today which will be 200 per week. She loved her first
day! Peyton is in school, however, finding a time for just her and Riley and Melissa is also critical as she has been having to help out raising the kids more than a
typical situation.


We appreciate everyone's kindness and generosity. We thank you in advance and hope that everyone that is having a hard time in today's world are finding support and courage. Thank you for taking the time to read this.



Stay safe, and let's do our best to look after each other,

Trace and Rich Tyson
519-375-1279




Again, we are happy to pick up anything and deliver to Riley. If you want to donate food you can also drop it off at Muriel's or our place which is easier then Riley's as it's hard not to wake up kids etc.



Other Information:

Peyton

Size Girls L 10/12

shoe girls 4




Hunter, Case, Rawlings, River

Size 3T almost 4

Toddler Shoe size 9