Years ago, my client Jo put her life on hold to become her mother's fulltime caregiver. For 3 years, she took care of her mother's every need. Morning to night, morning to night, until the day her mother passed away. In the midst of that overwhelming grief, she had to reinvent herself. 

Her mother left her their family home in Jamaica but in order to keep up with the bills that come with homeownership, as well as her own student loans, Jo took on two full time jobs. For a while, she managed to keep her head above water. Yet the relentless hours began to take a toll on her health and she was soon unable to keep working the second job. In the time since, living solely on the salary of her first job has meant falling behind on her property taxes.

The reason I've made this page is because, a few months ago, the City of New York informed Jo that if she didn't settle her property tax arrears by July 19 then they would sell her debt to a third party debt servicer. The danger of this sale is that these third parties add additional charges on the overall debt through processing and legal fees and are quick to foreclose on homeowners unable to keep up with the ever-increasing amounts that they owe. In order to avoid being trapped in this cycle of debt, Jo has spent the last few months trying to put together any and all funds she has access to.

In total, she needs to pay the City of New York $5574 to avoid this lien sale. By July 18, she will have saved up $4300 up, which leaves her $1274 short (I've set the goal for this fundraiser at $1300 in order to account for any processing fees). Please give whatever you can and let's keep Jo in her home.