Hey everyone, I'm Grey. I'll attempt to keep this succinct, but there's a lot to say, so bear with me. Back in 2018, myself, my brother Tate and a couple other fellas moved into a house that, in 2019, we turned into a house venue called The Bug House. Although I have long since moved out and roommates have rotated, Tate and our pal Dylan have remained the sole consistent occupants, allowing myself and many other people to host dozens and dozens of shows, with the house becoming the epicenter of the Fort Wayne hardcore, punk, metal and overall DIY scene. It's hosted international bands, touring acts of all stripes, fundraisers, Food Not Bombs events and everything in between. It has become arguably the most important nexus point for DIY music in Northern Indiana, full stop, and has been the driving factor behind a complete revitalization of hardcore/punk/DIY among this region's youth. It is a dry, drug free, all ages and all inclusive space that is, in a word, indispensable.

Fast forward to the present. For reasons mysterious to us, a small group of relative newcomers to the space decided to manufacture and disseminate some truly absurd rumors about the house, namely that it is a money laundering front and part of an international human trafficking ring. Claims that, if you're even a little bit familiar with DIY spaces, are so deranged that they only warrant laughter. And that's what we did. Until a few days ago when the FWPD, FWFD and neighborhood code officials showed up to a scheduled gig, saying that they had received complaints to basically every city office imaginable that the house may have health and building code violations. Naturally, we assume the aforementioned parties are responsible. The problem is that, like most of the houses in its low-income neighborhood, the Bug House is not up to code. But those houses don't have malicious parties calling in complaints on them.

The result is that the house was immediately condemned. This not only derailed an entire summer's worth of booked shows, but much more importantly, left Tate, his three roommates and their pets without a home in the blink of an eye.

So here's the rub. Tate is not currently the owner of the home, but he is in a land contract agreement with the landlady, with the intent to take possession next year. She had agreed to sell the house to him for considerably below its market value precisely so he could slowly make the repairs necessary to get it up to code. With the house condemned, all of those repairs have to be done in a very short span of time instead. Tate has acquired a 60 day affidavit allowing the residents time to get in there and make the repairs needed to bring the house up to code. In the meantime, all four residents and their pets need to acquire semi-permanent housing so that they can live while they work. On top of that, the sheer extent of the repairs needed is frankly staggering. The Bug House is not only a vital community space, it's the place that Tate was and is working hard to make his permanent home. If you know him, you know that he thinks of everyone else first and himself last. So please help me to help him and return the selflessness that he continues to endlessly extend to those around him. Let's get him back in his home and save a vital piece of culture in the process.

As of right now, we do not know how much this process is going to cost. It could very well cost $60k, but it could also cost $40k or $75k. There's really no way to know until we acquire building permits and get to work. I am not expecting us to fund this entire thing, but I figured we can shoot for the moon and hit the stars. Even a few thousand dollars to help get everyone's interim housing needs met would be a massive help. It goes without saying that we are all devastated and appalled by the actions of the person or persons responsible for this, but we are also completely humbled by the massive outpouring of support we've received. Everyone involved knows that times are hard for everyone, so from the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone who makes the effort to donate or even just to share this with a few people.