Support a Family in Crisis: Ronnie and Sarah

*UPDATE at the bottom! 2/25 & 3/10

I have been trying to help my paint assistant's family get out of a catastrophic situation that has been plaguing them for the past 4 months. They live a few houses down from me and I have had to help them with many things pertaining to their situation.

Back-Story: Their household is on fixed income; both parents are medically disabled and only receive social security and disability. Ronnie the step-dad has half a foot amputated (from diabetes) and he is always in and out of the hospital every week. The mom Sarah has severe Scoliosis and can hardly move around and is always in pain. The youngest son (28) has documented mental health problems and we finally have applied him for disability, but it will be half a year before we even know anything with the application. And my friend (36) has applied for Caregiver income through the State, but it will be a few months before that gets started.

1)Their electricity has been shut off since before Thanksgiving, so they have not had heat all winter. They currently owe about $4,000 on their electric bill that they have carried this balance for almost 2 years (long story). I bought them a propane heat attachment and all winter I had been helping them get propane exchanges from Menards every few days for them to keep one room warm.

2) Due to electric and heat being off, the water pipes burst in their back room just before Christmas during the first major cold snap. (for some reason, the water pipes were routed up into the attic!) Ronnie was in the hospital when it happened and no one in the house knew how to shut off, so they had to wait for the water company to come out and turn off, which took hours. The ceiling collapsed a few days later and knocked some of the electrical conduit loose and now hanging, plus the water pipes now need to be fixed and maybe re-routed. On Christmas day I was helping them clean up the mess (see pictures) and get them motivated to do something about their situation

3) They do not have a vehicle, it got totaled 3 years ago and stored in the garage and piles of belongings have been stored around it. It should have been repossessed as they still owed payments on it. Their house is paid off, but they almost lost it to tax auction this past fall due to not paying the $3,000 yearly tax on the property. They only barely saved it from auction by paying a percentage of what was due, and still owe a large balance.

4) They finally got a LINK application for food stamps done a few weeks ago and had to reschedule the phone interview 3 times! They have to treck over to my house to use my WiFi so they can receive calls. They never did fix their food stamps after moving into their current house about 4 years ago, because they had a Humana card that gave them $300/month that they used on food & kitty litter, but something happened with Sarah's medical insurance so they no longer have the income from the Humana card. I have been on their case about getting back onto food stamps for many years now, and I am glad they finally are in the process. I have had to drive my friend to various food banks this past month ever since the income from the Humana card stopped.

5) Their garbage service has been shut off for many months now, and I have been allowing them to use my garbage cans in the meantime. But they have large water-damaged items from the ceiling collapse to dispose of, so garbage service needs to be set up ASAP.

6) I have helped them with all these resources so far, and helped them apply for LIHEAP, the Low Income Energy Assistance Program, but again, getting the assistance has been SO SLOW! They are still waiting on results from that application.

7) They also will need a little of this money to help feed and keeping litter clean for 6 cats! I helped them reduce the number from 8 cats! (I found homes for 2 of the cats). I also helped them get all the female cats spayed back in October through a low-cost clinic.

I have been guiding my friend this entire time and keeping up with and making sure progress is made each week. This upcoming Monday Feb 24th, I will be dropping off my friend at the Trustee's office on my way to work, and he will have to walk 2 hours home. The Trustee said she could help them if they could make it to her office in person. She will be the next most-helpful person who could be of assistance to them.

I will make sure this GoFundMe goes to paying their bills and fixing things in their house. I have been letting them use my electricity to charge batteries and phones, using my oven for making his parents meals, I have been letting them use my water to wash their clothes, and sometimes my shower. I want my friends to have their house back so I can get my house back!

2/25 UPDATE! I found a friend who was able to help replace the section of their water pipes that burst. But they won't know if that completely solves the problem until their water gets turned back on, and I found out they owe $700 on their water bill!

And yesterday Monday I dropped off my friend at the Trustee's office, and she said she could help him pay a good portion of the electric bill, but not all of it. But he has to finish filling out an application packet and get back over there. And as far as the water bill goes, it is in Ronnie's name, so he would have to go see the Trustee in person, but Ronnie is currently in the hospital again, so not sure when that could happen.

3/10 UPDATE!!

After 3 separate failed attempts to do the phone interview for the food stamps, (Their mom, Sarah has to trek over to my house each time and use my WiFi to receive calls) For some reason their phone wouldn't pick up the call and it would go straight to voicemail each time, so they made an in-person appointment. I drove them to the appointment few days later and they were able to finally finish the LINK interview. They were told they should expect between $550-$600 per month, which will help them out SO much! (They were spending all their income on Uber Eats and food delivery, so this will free up their money for paying down the other bills.) They also helped Sarah fix something with her Medicaid Insurance, so she should be getting the Humana card again starting next month too. Sarah asked about getting a government phone, but were told they have to finish food stamp approval first. Luckily, they got all the LINK paperwork turned in the next day, so now they are just waiting for the approval letter in the mail.

Last week my friend was given an application packet from the Trustee that he had to fill out to prove household income. He had to search through bags and boxes for Social Security statements. Today he was supposed to walk over to her office and turn in that paperwork, so hopefully I will have an update tonight about their electric bill situation.

And Ronnie is still in the hospital, we also found out last week that he got more of his leg amputated! There was a chronic infection in his leg all year that was never able to heal, so they had to take more of his leg to just above the knee. We are not sure if/when he will be back home. Probably not until the water is turned back on. But the Trustee said she couldn't help my friend with the water bill because it is in Ronnie's name, so I had the plan to bring him over to the Trustee's office as soon as he returned from the hospital, but that might not happen any time soon!

My friend is working on cleaning up more of their house, for if Ronnie is ever to make it back home, he can maneuver between the bathroom and his bedroom.