My mom, Jamie Ousley-Holt, must restart her life after 45 years of marriage, and we are desperate for your support, compassion, and prayers.
A Mother Facing an Unimaginable Start Over
After 45 years of marriage, Jamie's husband unexpectedly informed her he wanted a divorce and left the family home with all his belongings and no explanation. In a matter of days, the life my mom had built as a pastor's wife for decades was turned upside down. We are all in shock and are trying to help her restart her life.
A Lifetime of Service and Sacrifice
Jamie became a full-time preacher's wife in 1994, and also stayed at home to raise their three children. She spent the last 10 years raising her grandsons too. She has occasionally worked outside her home when needed but spent most of her married life sacrificing a career for her husband's ministry, the church, and her beautiful family.
Besides being an amazing mom and nanny, she has always been a huge part of the ministry, with her main love and focus on children's church. Between her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and the kids at church, her kindness and love have been an example to all of us.
She has spent her married life depending on her husband's income, and as such, she does not have a retirement or savings account. Just the legal proceedings alone could take months and are way beyond her reach financially.
Urgent Housing Transition Ahead
Currently, she's living in the family home , but it's on a 12-month rental and the lease will be up after next month (end of July). She won't be able to afford the cost of living where she is now and must relocate to a small town with the hope of finding cheaper housing, but this will involve a lot of moving expenses and travel costs until she can get settled for good.
While navigating this new life, she'll still be traveling back and forth and paying for doctor and specialist visits due to a long-term autoimmune disease, a heart condition, and a vehicle accident that occurred less than a year ago. All this will be occurring on top of the usual daily expenses of food, gas, insurance, phone, etc.
Urgent Housing Transition Ahead
The needs are very immediate, as her social security is a very minimum amount. Due to the costs she's now dealing with, that amount won't cover her needs, let alone the cost of being forced into starting completely over. She does not have the finances to pay the next month's rent that is due under contract or to find new housing and pay the rent, rental deposits, utility deposits, and any other costs in setting up a new residence on her own.
At the stage when most people are slowing down in life, my mom is in the midst of complete devastation. The financial burdens are extreme, but the emotional and mental burdens are unbearable, and have led to intense depression. After being a wife for over 45 years and supporting her spouse, she has found herself in a position of shock and disbelief. Never in a million years would she have ever seen this coming, or been able to imagine it happening to her.
Why We’re Reaching Out
We all love our mom, and this has broken our hearts for her, not to mention the major damage it has done to our family. Her needs are very, very immediate and more than we as her children and grandkids can provide. We want to, but we are just unable financially to do it all, which is why we're reaching out to others.
Any gift no matter the size will help Jamie secure safe housing, cover essential expenses, and move forward during one of the most difficult and devastating times of her life. I
If you are unable to give, please consider sharing this and keeping Jamie in your thoughts and prayers.