Help Two SF Sisters stay out of massive debt

Dear Friends + Frisco Family:

 

My name is Jessica and I've known Monica and her family since I was five. How can I articulate both what Monica and her family and what San Francisco mean to me? Growing up in San Francisco made us who we are, and part of who we are includes the physical places where we've spent time. Monica and I met in kinder at Buena Vista (La Escuela Mas Chevere!). When I think about Buena Vista, the first thing that pops into my head is the building on 25th and Utah, next to La Raza Park. When I think about Monica and Niki, the first thing that pops into my head is the colorful dish wear in their vibrant kitchen. The long staircase, the back yard and the deck outside, the oasis of nature it contained, the view from their back porch, memories of sitting on their front stoop watching people pass. The way the building rocks when the J Church goes by. Five bucks and a sandwich from Papa Felix. The giant trees in their back yard and so many plants.

So much has changed in the Bay in our lifetime. Friends and family have been displaced. We are working to protect the spaces and communities we still have: Monica and her family home are no exception. Both are part of the foundation of my life, even when I'm far away in Brooklyn. Every trip home, I make a stop at Monica's house--a house that has been in her family for 4 generations. I grew up hanging out there, and the Magtoto family has opened their home to lots of folks over the years. They and their building are a pillar of SF!

 

So, friends and frisco fam: I am asking for your help. In March 2020, Monica and Niki lost their mother Celia to breast cancer. Only 2 years later, in January 2022, they lost their grandmother and matriarch Geraldine. After Gram passed, Monica and Niki inherited the family home. 

 

Geraldine's last great project on this earth was trying to protect them from having to pay high property taxes after she passed. She literally lost sleep worrying about it. The Magtoto family lawyer made an irreversible mistake in the family trust, and now they are saddled with that very problem. Monica and her family worked with the city for the better part of a year to sort it out, to no avail. They have been scrounging together the money for the bills totaling in over $20,000 per year. After an endless back and forth, they were able to settle with the city for a slightly lower amount. Having just paid the city $10,000 in December, they are now faced with the back tax from when they first filed an appeal and the April bill (SF has homeowners pay taxes in December and April, not six months apart) totaling in over $20,000 due April 1st. If the bill is not paid in full, they will begin to accrue fees.

Some people have asked them why they don't just sell the house. But selling it is not even on the table. This house holds four generations of San Francisco history and many more of their family's history. Anyone who's lived in the Bay Area knows that displacement of families is a long, complex, and emotional topic. So many families have been forced out of their homes, and we know that stable housing is a concrete foundation of mental, physical, and financial wellbeing. Living in this house is vital to their and their father's health in so many ways. This home is in their DNA. They are simply trying to catch up so they can save up to pay the next bill and all of the other mounting costs of inheriting a 124 year old home. Please help the Magtoto’s, the true San Francisco Treat, by sharing and contributing any amount you can, no amount is too small.