Wes & Bran's Urgent Move: A Fresh Start Needed

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read this. It feels like more and more of us are having to do this, but it means a lot if you have made it this far.

Our names are Wes Franks and Bran Lavigne. We, along with our cat Jigsaw and dog Rustin, need your help. We recently decided to make the move from Washington DC to Silver Spring, Maryland in order to have a more affordable living with more space for our family. We tried to find an apartment space that was right for us and we thought it was at a place we'll call The Park Apartments.

When we first visited The Park, we were made many promises and shown a relatively new and remodeled unit that would be like what we would be living in. We were coming from a terrible situation at The Kenmore, where many amenities and functions of the building were in disrepair. We had experienced a terrible management team and we were looking for a new start.

We had decided The Park would be that place. It had everything we needed at a Competitive price. It seemed perfect.

Until we moved in.

The apartment was slightly renovated, but with clear holes in the baseboards. It was filthy, cockroach infested, and in disrepair. Not to mention a hoard of fleas waiting for our pets, which we had to deal with ourselves.

It was not what we're promised or what we paid for. We have since attempted to have the many issues fixed, but management is dragging their feet and not upholding the terms of our lease. We have tried to get the county inspector to hold them to the terms, but their inspector is not hopeful of our chances.

After going back and forth with the rental company over how they should've prepared and maintained our new home, they accused us of having "too high of expectations" and have told us we will not be allowed to renew our lease. We managed to negotiate an early date for us to break our lease, but we do not expect them to allow us to go without paying.

On top of all of this, the atmosphere and safety of Washington DC has been compromised due to our lousy neighbors in the big, white house. The police force has been handed over to the National Guard and mass incarceration and even death to the citizens that don't tow the line is sure to follow.

Our rent is $1,675.00 not including utilities, we paid $200 for a U-Haul and it's gas, and we paid double our rent for security deposit and other application fees. In short, it was expensive, and it appears that we will not have peace here unless we leave this place. We're asking you to donate or share with others this fundraiser so we can make our way to a much happier home without having to pay a ridiculous amount of money yet again to move. We will need at least $3000 to break our lease and pay off fees. The rest will go towards getting a U-Haul to move to our next destination of NW DC until we can make the leap out West, to Norman, OK.

Wes will be grabbing a space to lease there and making sure we are taken care of while finding work in our new city. While Bran will be staying back in DC to wrap up prior commitments.

Why Oklahoma?

Though the state government of Oklahoma lacks gumption and a spine, there are a great many people doing solid community & mutual aid, especially in areas around OKC and Tulsa. We also have a solid base for community in Oklahoma. There are job opportunities for Bran and Wes and there is plenty of inexpensive options for us to start a home where our animals can have a bit more freedom to stretch their legs.

The climate is better for both Bran & Wes' health and we are both enthusiastic to start being more hands on in nonprofit and community building in the area.

Why not Oklahoma now?

After years of reproductive health issues, Bran is finally on the road to sterilization surgery, something that will be much easier to accomplish in DC than OK. Due to therapy and other medical appointments and procedures earlier this year, Bran has already met the deductible on their health insurance plan and there is really no better time for this surgery. This does, however, mean that Bran and Wes will need to maintain residence in this area through the end of Bran's recovery period later this year. Since The Park has only agreed to allow us to leave by the end of October, this means signing another lease in DC before we can leave the area.

Why do we need your help?

Bran works a job that pays decently, but Wes has been unemployed for a year now. They have to run games, take low income contract work, and somehow contribute to bills, groceries, and more. We are ineligible for Food Stamps, unemployment benefits, and more due to Bran's income.

We would like to hire moving services since we are still recovering from doing the initial move ourselves, 6 months ago. This would also cover the rent, application fees, passport renewal in case we need to flee the country, shipping some of our stuff to Oklahoma and more. All so we are not having to pull out a loan from the cost we will eat in all of this.

Please feel free to share this and we appreciate you taking the time to do so.

Funds Breakdown:

Potential Legal costs and security deposit for Oklahoma apartment: $3000

Passport Renewals: $500

First and Last month with Security Deposit for DC Apartment: $5000

U-Haul rental for DC and Oklahoma: $3000

Food + Gasoline: $1500

Buffer Funds: $2000