The Nelson Family

Hey Everyone!

Our dear friends Aaron & Stef Nelson need our help! Flooding has ravaged their home and they could really use our help getting their home back into good living condition.

Here is a note (below) from Aaron to help with understanding the gravity of the Nelson's situation. Every little bit helps. Please consider donating to help this sweet family get back on their feet and their home to be fully livable and in working order again!

Thank you everyone!

Note from Aaron:

We bought our home in 2014 and worked hard to make it our own. We had to replace leaking windows and a worn out roof. Understandable for an older home, but major investment that we hoped would make our home last for a long long time.

Fast forward to 2020. When Stef got Covid, it made all of her chronic illnesses worse. We set up a room in the house for her to heal physically and emotionally.

In the summer of 2021 we found water and black mold in her room. We had to gut the room and fix the issues that were causing the water intrusion. We hired reclamation specialists for the mold and landscapers for grading and drainage issues in our front yard. Homeowners insurance does not cover for anything flood related so we took out a second mortgage. We also removed all carpet and switched to vinyl flooring.

In the fall of 2021, during the repair work, Stef’s dad was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He came to stay for the holidays and never made it back home. He passed away in our home on New Year’s Eve 2021. We immediately moved Stef’s mom in with us and gave her the newly renovated room that originally had the mold issues.

A year later in the winter of 2022 the ground in our backyard completely froze over and poor grading sent water into our home for a second time. This time in the lower level and basement. We had to tear up the newly renovated floors and walls and have a sump pump installed. We also hired landscapers again to try to address the backyard. Once again, nothing was covered by insurance. The installers left everything torn up and I enlisted the help of a friend to put everything back together ourselves.

Once we finished, we finally felt like we could relax and enjoy our home. But our debts had become very high. Living paycheck to paycheck was stressful.

Then, this past Thursday the 24th of July, torrential rainstorms devastated our neighborhood. Water came pouring out of the woods behind our home and completely surrounded us like a river. The sump pump did its best but was completely overwhelmed. We ended up with 6 inches of water in our basement and another 2-3 inches on the lower level where Stef’s mom lives.

Once again, we’ve torn everything out. Floors removed. Walls removed. Trying to prevent mold ourselves. We have exhausted all our financial options and insurance has denied any claim.

It was suggested that we have our furnace checked due to the amount of water we had in our basement. Because of rust from recent moisture, the inspector was able to spot numerous cracks in the heat exchanger, which is a fire hazard. It needs to be replaced.

Even simple things are difficult. I went to mow the lawn yesterday and found that the mower had been completely submerged in water inside our back shed. It’s dead.

Thank you to everyone for any donation!