Save Phil and Joe's Home from Foreclosure

Please help our two dear friends, Phil and Joe.

We've known Phil for over forty years, and his husband, Joe, for nearly 20. They are good guys who have found themselves in a very difficult financial situation, and now their home of 25 years is slated to be sold at a foreclosure auction on January 8, 2025.

How did they get to this precarious state? It could happen to anyone.

Phil worked in warehouse management for nearly 30 years but has not been employed since shattering his hip in a serious accident on the job a few years ago. Even though he underwent surgery for a hip replacement and received intensive physical therapy, he walks with a cane and has not been able to find suitable work as a disabled senior. In the meantime, he has developed neurological issues that have impaired him such that returning to the workforce is not an option. And in the last year, he has been hospitalized with increasing regularity, at a rate of every two weeks recently.

After previously being turned down, Phil is once again in the process of applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Joe is already on SSDI due to overlapping medical issues that are complicated by chronic pain resulting from past surgeries and treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma. They have been subsisting on Joe's SSDI benefits, which provides an income that hovers at the federal poverty level for a two-person household. Now, despite working with their mortgage holder to provide endless rounds of evidence demonstrating financial hardship, with only 1.5 months before the foreclosure sale, they learned their attempts to save their home have failed.

As their friends, we weren't aware of how dire their financial circumstances are until recently. Why? Because it's hard to ask for help; it can be embarrassing, even from your friends. But now that we know what Phil and Joe need, we are trying to raise $35,000 to prevent their home from being sold at auction, and we are asking for your help.

We need to have the funds in place no later than January 5, 2025, in order to ensure their home is not included in the sale. We feel certain that homelessness will devastate Phil's mental and physical health. Joe is already near the breaking point as Phil's caretaker in the midst of trying to avoid this outcome. As we head into the coldest time of the year, it's hard to fathom that our dear friends could be without a roof over their heads.

But we are also working in parallel to make sure there is a Plan B. If we are unable to save their home, any funds we raise will be used towards moving and relocation costs. Phil and Joe are in the process of seeking emergency housing in the short term in case it is needed. Phil will be eligible for (non-disability) social security in April, which will help stabilize their finances going forward.

While this is a lot of money to raise in a very short time, we hope enough good deeds here can help two good people keep their home. Afterall, what are we here for, if not each other?

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Julia + Mark