- K
Hi,
I'm Erica. I am an unemployed, disabled artist living with relatives in Indiana after leaving my home state of California due to the extremely high cost of living.
I was encouraged to start this fundraiser while facing eviction in Los Angeles County during the January 2025 fires. This fundraiser has already helped me accomplish my first two goals: avoiding eviction and leaving California.
The current focus is my third goal: to raise enough money — $25-50k — to buy a “Cheap Old House,” likely in the Midwest.
My long term goals are to have a home-based bakery and start publishing my writing to support myself. I have a BA in Literature and Writing from Columbia University and an MFA from CalArts.
Thank you for reading, donating, and especially sharing. If 1000 people donated $25, I could reach my next goal to buy the house.
More information below, for those interested.
I have two Etsy shops where you can purchase my work:
Photos by EJ
Stay At Home Cat Mom — clothing and housewares with political and feminist themes
[photo: me with my cats Laverne and Shirley the day we met]
WHY A CHEAP OLD HOUSE?
The only ways I can afford to live on my SSI are in a paid-for house or to have rent/mortgage under $500. I have signed up for Section 8 lists in several states, but the wait can be years. A $60k house could have a mortgage that low, but without a 2 year work or SSI payment history, I am unable to get a mortgage.
I fell in love with Cheap Old Houses on Instagram years ago. I have always loved old houses. I remember looking at houses with my parents and falling in love with built ins and pocket doors as a kid. Even as a small child, we went antique shopping and I loved old desks, armoires, and chests. What is more stunning that a Victorian or Craftsman home with a lovely staircase, hardwood floors, stained glass windows, and gorgeous woodwork?
MY NEEDS IN A HOUSE
Because I’d be moving somewhere I don’t know anyone, I would prefer to be within about a 6-8 hour drive of Indianapolis, where most of my extended family live, or 4-6 hours outside of NYC, where most of my friends live. The other half of my friends live in California and there’s just not much low cost housing within a day’s drive.
It’s important for me to live in an area diverse enough that I feel safe as a WOC.
I need a community center or YMCA with an indoor pool within 20ish miles, so I can do aquatic physical therapy and aqua aerobics to try to regain mobility and energy level.
The ideal house would be relatively turn key, but need not be perfect — outdated features, shag rugs, garish paint, a few holes in the wall, and ugly floors are ok. My uncles can help with minor updates and repairs — putting up drywall, painting, sanding and refinishing a floor perhaps. They are in their 60s and of course I can’t afford to pay them, so extensive repairs in multiple rooms or replacing large systems wouldn’t be feasible.
A house with a rental unit would also be ideal as a long term strategy to survive after decades of underemployment, unemployment, and chronic pain.
THE “DREAM” HOUSE
I’ve found one particular, gorgeous foreclosed house that has been up for auction, but not sold. It’s in a small town with a soft housing market. It’s on a busy street without a fence, so it’s not suited to families. While some say the yard is too small, I don’t need a large yard, although there is room for a tiny house/ADU and garden.
This house is a stunning combination of Victorian and Craftsman styles — with intricate hard wood floors, detailed fretwork over the pocket doors, a grand staircase, and the original fireplace. There is even a back staircase where a chairlift could be installed discreetly.
Even it is not perfect — there’s no shower downstairs, there are about 5 stairs to the porch, and one room needs partial wall and ceiling repairs after a pipe burst. However, if necessary, the repairs could wait as it’s a small room perfect for an office off the parlor and living room. There’s not first floor bedroom, but there is a parlor.
The kitchen is a bit small with limited counter space — but has a ton of cabinets. The adjacent dining room could be used for prep and storage for a baking business, as well as closed to pets by adding a door.
Other pros are its location a few blocks from a YMCA, likely to sell under $60k, and doesn’t come with a disgruntled former owner or squatters as many foreclosed properties do.
Also, as fate would have it, one of my cousins has a good friend from college in that town. He has purchased and fixed up several houses in the area. He is familiar with the house — he and his wife almost bought it for her business. He did an external inspection and given me advice based on his experience with foreclosures and auctions in the area.
He had a similar situation of a house that took months of auctions to sell, that he finally bought for half the original reserve price because other buyers dropped out in the winter. This house isn’t selling less because it’s flawed, but more because of the local market, few jobs, many houses for sale, and it’s not what families or landlords renting to college kids are looking for.
For a single woman running a small business or a couple of friends in their Golden Girls era — it’s a great fit.
THE REALITIES OF OLD HOUSES
In this price range, no house will be perfect. I accept that it is highly unlikely I’ll find a house that has no stairs or an attached garage — things that make a huge difference with limited mobility and decades of chronic pain.
I understand that Habitat For Humanity will install ramps and otherwise make houses more accessible. I hope the process won’t take too long, but as long as there is a bathroom on the first floor, I can make due until updates can be made.
EVEN LONGER TERM
I am open to working any job I can do remotely. Prior to going back to school in my 30s, I worked as an Executive Assistant in non-profit and media companies, Marketing Assistant at a hedge fund, Legal Assistant at white shoe firms and investment banks, Online Assistant Editor to a green consumer website, New Media Project Coordinator at a record label group, Online Hotel Reservations Clerk, and Answering Service Operator. I even worked two holiday seasons for the Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn catalogs.
I spent the two years I lived on my own in CA looking for work, without getting a single interview. I don’t know why and am open to any advice or job leads that are a reasonable match for my experience. After many years out of the workforce, I feel like a dinosaur, but am a hard worker with a variety of solid skills, I just need the opportunity to interview and prove myself.
Finally, I truly believe my home could be so much more than a house. I have several friends in DV situations who cannot afford to leave. Me having an extra room could enable them to escape and rebuild. I could foster cats or maybe even kids. I have a lot of love to give and a heart for service.
Thank you for reading and for any help you can provide. I truly appreciate it.
Organizer
