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Support for Alex VanZandt

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Alex (Norman) Van Zandt, beloved Eanes teacher, needs our help.  Jeff Van Zandt, her husband for the past eight years and partner in life for many years before, died in a single-car accident in Gunnison, Colorado.  On July 3rd, Jeff and his friend, Freddie, had finished unpacking a moving van and a huge SUV full of household goods to the home Alex and Jeff had just purchased.  After grabbing an early dinner in Crested Butte, Jeff gave Freddie one of his hallmark tours of the beautiful Ohio Pass, as he wanted to share his love of the valley. The accident, in which Jeff died instantly and Freddie was uninjured, occurred less than twenty minutes from their home. They were not under the influence, were not speeding, and they both had on their seat belts. It was simply a devastating and tragic accident. 

Alex has been with Eanes ISD for 13 years.  We know Alex as independent, spirited and hugely capable.  As a teacher of first and third graders, as well as an upper elementary teacher of special needs students, Alex was committed, creative and thoroughly connected to the Bridge Point community.  She made her school better.  During the past four years, Alex supported post-high school special needs students transitioning from school to the rest of their lives at Adult Transition Services.  At the conclusion of the school year in June,  Alex resigned from Eanes ISD to begin her next stage in life in Gunnison with Jeff.  They purchased a home with acreage, Alex accepted a faculty position with Western Colorado University as a lecturer and course developer in the department of education, and Jeff planned to continue his career in production and music event coordination. 

Currently, Alex does not have access to the financial assets she and Jeff shared, nor is she able to finalize the sale of her home in Austin without the assistance of an estate attorney.  Due to COVID-19, Travis County believes it could be up to a year before all access, legal, and succession issues will be resolved.  Alex is stuck and needs our support for unanticipated legal expenses and day-to-day living costs.  All parts of her life are fully in transition, without her partner Jeff--and with no safety net.  Let that net be us.

You know Alex to be fiercely independent.  Leaning on others does not come easy for her, but she has earned our love and respect and efforts to help her through this tragic and impossible set of circumstances.  We know she will be ok on the other side of this, but she needs us to be the bridge to get her to that point.  

Thank you for any support you can provide to our dear friend, Alex.

Organizer

Sheri Bryant
Organizer
Austin, TX

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