The Sebesta Family Needs Help!

Hello friends and family!

We're sorry to have to do this, but our home is at risk. Four months ago we paid $14,000 and knocked out what remained of our savings to replumb our entire 137-year-old house. A major cast iron pipe cracked, causing a chain reaction that affected the rest of the house.

One week ago, our furnace began experiencing issues. While it's below freezing outside, our heater will only bring parts of the house up to 42 degrees (and other parts even less, but there's no gauge to know the exact numbers). We have a five-year-old, a two-year-old, and a four-month-old baby. We've had HVAC techs out four times now, and the last "fix" only lasted a day. Today's tech called it officially: we need a furnace replacement, costing about $5,000.

Three days ago we plugged in a space heater to help keep the house from freezing overnight. This caused power in the entire front half of the house to go out: our living room, family room, 5yo's bedroom, our bedroom (where the baby's crib also is), half of the 2yo's room, and the upstairs bathroom.

We've had a few quotes for the electrical, and we're definitely looking at a 4-week whole house rewire costing $20-30,000. We are looking into further borrowing power, but we're basically tapped out after loans for the plumbing and our minivan we purchased for the birth of our third child.

We're expecting some money from our tax return, but we're still waiting on W2s to be able to file. I am in the process of finding a new job to help with expenses, but the money will not come immediately, and we need to get going fixing the home our young children live in. It's winter, and we need power and especially heat.

Please, donate anything you can. Anything helps.