We never expected to be in a position where we’d have to ask for help, but life has backed us into a corner, and this is our last option to keep our home stable until we can refinance in July.

A couple of years ago, we bought our house with the plan to refinance after six months. At the time, interest rates were dropping, and it seemed like a realistic path. But by the time we were eligible, rates had gone back up instead of down, which meant refinancing would have raised our payment instead of lowering it. We were suddenly locked into a mortgage that was higher than we could realistically sustain long‑term.

We managed for a while and eventually got a loan modification that brought the payment down to about $2,000 a month. It wasn’t easy, but we made it work.

Then everything changed.

A couple months after we got the loan modification, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to begin chemo and radiation. She tried to keep working as long as she could, but eventually had to stop and go on long‑term disability, which reduced her income. We also had to move her onto my insurance once she lost her employer coverage, which increased our monthly costs.

Between the income loss, medical travel, and bills piling up while waiting for disability payments to process, we fell behind. We eventually hit a 90‑day late, which locked us out of refinancing for a full year. We’ve been doing everything we can to stay afloat since then.

We’ve taken out loans, used credit cards, borrowed from friends, and cut everything we could. We were counting on our tax refund to carry us through to July, but because disability payments don’t have taxes withheld unless you specifically request it, we ended up owing federal taxes instead of receiving the refund we were expecting. The small refund we did receive from the state went straight to the mortgage.

At this point, our income simply isn’t enough to cover the mortgage and the bills that have stacked up during this period. We’ve used every realistic option available to us — loans, credit cards, borrowing from friends, cutting expenses — and we’re out of room to maneuver. The only thing left would be pulling from our retirement account, which would hurt us long‑term and come with tax consequences, so we’re trying to avoid that if at all possible.

We’re asking for $4,000 to cover two months of mortgage payments so we can make it to July, when we’ll finally be eligible to refinance into something sustainable.

Anything above that amount will go toward catching up on the credit cards and the Affirm balance we’ve had to rely on just to stay afloat during this period. We want to be completely transparent about that.

We don’t expect anyone to fix everything for us. We’re just trying to keep our home and make it to the point where we can stabilize things ourselves.

If you’re able to help, thank you.

If you can’t donate, sharing the campaign helps more than you know.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.