Hey Family! 

Our dear friends- Shannon, Russel & Fela, are in need of some major help & support.

A few weeks ago they were made aware of a mold infestation in their sweet, little apartment up in Encinitas. Within these few weeks they were discovering that this TOXIC mold infestation had spread almost entirely over everything they own (on some items, not being able to physically see). As of  a week ago, they were forced to vacate their home, leaving almost EVERYTHING behind. All three of them have endured chronic health issues over the last 3 months (without knowing it was all due to this extremely toxic mold). They are now staying with friends and have had to pay a substantial amount out of pocket to meet their basic needs for their family (new clothes, shoes, blankets, food, diapers, etc.). 

We take pride in our community and family we have built amongst each other, and there are times when some of us are in greater need than others. This is one of those times, they need our help, big time. Anything & everything will go such a long way for this little family. And the gratitude & Love in advanced is overwhelming. 


Please see their personal story below, written by Shan & Russ: 

The Ramo Fam Space Jam is asking for help. It is a hard thing to do - but our situation calls for the support of our community. We are grateful to connect with you and hope we can all help one another throughout this wild life.

The details are that we need to replace many of our personal belongings due to toxic mold exposure. After the health issues our family has had over the past several months, the most conservative thing to do is to start new. It is likened to acting as if the house is on fire. We will slowly be replacing our clothes, blankets, mattresses, couches, camping gear, toys, books, shoes, furniture, fans, and more. It is a daunting reality, especially with our 17-month-old son. There are many memories and hard earned money woven into our personal belongings. Some items are from loved relatives that are no longer with us and other items are sentimental "firsts" for Fela.

We are asking for support to help us to secure our basic needs as we work to salvage what we can. We are actively looking for a new place and we are fortunate to be staying with Joe & Katie as we trudge through the rental market. Once we secure a place we will have to furnish it with new items to alleviate any cross contamination issues. I have included more details about the unfolding of this wild event below in case you want to know more.

A few months ago, Russell and I kept saying that we were feeling funny. On most days one of us would have a headache, or ringing in our ears, or lack of appetite, or a sore throat, or fatigue, or body aches, or other confusing symptoms. Everyday we went down our gratitude list and tried to focus on what was good in our lives despite not feeling physically or mentally well. That list always begins with Fela. 

Then Fela got sick. We chalk it up to a common cold but it keeps persisting. He is sick for 3 weeks when we notice our neighbor in the apartment next to us moving out. I ask her why she is moving and she lets us know her place has mold in it and how important it is for us to get Fela (and ourselves) out of there ASAP. We share a wall with this person so the chances of us having mold are likely. We cry a bunch and then we immediately start looking for places to move since we suspect many of our symptoms are being caused by the mold. 

Russell wakes up on Monday morning, February 4th, saying that he dreamt he found mold in the corner of our closet. He starts to pull items out and sure enough there is mold growing on a number of our belongings and black mold on the walls. That is when this whole situation kicked into high gear and we all got the FUNK out! After being out of the house for 48hrs many of our symptoms faded and Fela was feeling much better. Russell and I have both gone back into the apartment last week to begin to process all of our items and every time we are sent into a series of symptoms due to our intolerance and allergic reactions to the toxic mold. We ended up finding mold in every single room in our house and on countless items that we were living with.

Both of our jobs have been on hold this last week as we have taken every conservative measure to ensure that our beautiful baby boy is in a safe environment while we inventory our losses. We are visiting our doctors and we are beginning a detox program to flush our bodies of toxins. We have also connected with a mold expert who is helping us navigate this time of uncertainty.


I write this message to you and I have no clue what tomorrow brings. I am hoping for greater peace of mind for my family as we start anew. Although we are sad that we have lost so many precious items, we are optimistic for what the future holds.