The Fitzgerald family need your help

Hi, my name is Kate Fitzgerald and I am starting this go fund me to help secure the future of my family’s health, finances and property maintenance.

My father Peter has entered the debilitating physical and mental stage of Parkinson’s disease, something that makes living even harder due to his blindness. There is very little he can do for himself.

My brother Luke is autistic with very high support needs. He has always relied on my mother for assistance with most of his daily living, and at the age of 37, will need to work towards permanent independent accommodation for his own happiness and to ensure a bright future as our parents age.

For the last two years my mother Kris has been undergoing cancer treatment and a recent cyst in her leg has left her with severe pain and very limited mobility. Her, my father and brother have been in respite care for the last three months and it may be a while still before they can return home.

I live in a flat on the same property as my family and as a disabled person myself, I am struggling to assist them financially, physically and emotionally. We have no family close by the assist us on a regular basis and currently there is very little my parents’ aged care case workers can do to keep our futures secure and keep our house in a liveable condition.

Due to the continuing wet weather we’ve been having here in Maleny, our property has been taken over my toxic levels of mould, part of the ceiling is caving in, and the garden is so overgrown due to difficulty finding a gardener.

All four of us live from fortnight to fortnight on disability or carer’s allowances. My parents have incurred a lot of debt from staying in respite care for so long and we have a lot of urgent bills we are currently unable to pay.

We are a family who have always been very reluctant to ask for help and feel uncomfortable asking for financial donations, but I fear our ongoing poor health and precarious living conditions have left us with no choice but to ask for the assistance of friends and family in this desperate time.

Please consider donating if you have the means or if you or someone you know have the skills and equipment to help us maintain our property for the time being, that would also be greatly appreciated.

I am always open to receiving assistance, whether it’s just figuring out a plan for our futures or just company and a chat.

Many thanks and love to you all,

The Fitzgerald Family