Drew is my friend. He had a rough upbringing, and I met him years ago at a resort where I was assistant manager — he worked maintenance, and even there his personality shined through. Later I helped him get a job where I worked, and I was proud of him when he made it through 90 days in maintenance. It's a hard job, and he earned it. So when Drew came to us for help, I was inclined to say yes. His father had just been released from the hospital and needed to move in with Drew's family. At the same time, Drew's close friend Seth had been in a bad wreck with a dump truck and needed full-time, live-in care. Drew needed to focus on his wife, his kids, and his dad — he couldn't take on both. That's where we stepped in. What was meant to be 40 hours a week of aide help — which would have helped with our bills a little — quickly turned into a full-time, live-in situation. We gave up our living room and became Seth's caretakers. My wife, who is disabled, helped during the day; I helped at night after work. Seth quickly grew on us. We learned tracheal suction and other medical care, attended hospital trainings, and got to know his family in Mississippi, who drove in to help build a wheelchair ramp. Seth is paralyzed from the chest down and needs significant medical support. Complications sent him back to the hospital, and his time in the ICU was terrifying for all of us — at one point they gave him a 30% chance of making it. He pulled through. Next he's headed to a two-month program in Joplin, where surgeons will reattach the tendons in his right arm (he has no use of it right now), and his care team will address the hardware along his spine and his feeding port. We'll be standing with him and his family through all of it. I took time off work to be present through all of this. On top of it, my company is in the middle of a buyout, making my job uncertain — and my work is seasonal, so we have little financial cushion. Then we got the call that our daughter had been in a serious wreck. We can't share details, but her recovery will be a long road, and we've set up a separate GoFundMe for her here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/supporting-alyssa-after-the-car-accident/fb/o We still have kids at home and a beloved dog nearing the end of his life. We're not asking for help because we regret opening our home — we're asking because these overlapping hardships have left us unable to cover the basic costs of caring for the people we love. Where your donation goes: • Time away from work to provide care • Housing and household costs • Travel to and from Joplin • Our daughter's recovery expenses Any support would mean the world to us. Thank you for reading — and please keep everyone involved in your thoughts.