Help save our historical farm

Dear friends and supporters,

My name is Sarah, and I’m trying to help my dad, Alain, because we are running out of options. We find ourselves in a situation where we desperately need your support towards saving our home and preserving a historic farm !

My dad is from France and he moved to the US in 1997.

3 years ago he bought a farm with his wife, but now he may lose his house after spending all of his money on paying the bills, the loan and fixing it.

He lost his job over a year and half ago and since COVID, AI and scammers, the market has become very difficult. Since he does not work anymore, his wife recently asked for a divorce. The stress of everything got him in a car accident late December as he fell asleep driving and totaled his car in a property along the road. Today, he depends on my husband and I to buy him groceries or to bring him where he needs to go. My father can't work in the nearest town as it is at least 6.6 miles away, and my husband and I work as freelancers, so we can't guarantee that we can drive him everyday to work. On top of it, my dad just thought he got hired for a job on March 1st, but it turns out it was a scam and they managed to extort $3,885 from my dad's bank account, money that he does not have. The bank has not guaranteed any refund and his account is now locked.

My dad has been renovating the house, built in 1860, mostly all on his own for the past 3 years (roof, windows and siding), with the occasional help of me and my husband. He is renovating the house around its original wood frame that still in good condition. The house does not have any bathroom or kitchen yet.

So far, he paid the septic ($35k), the well ($18k) the roof ($9k - just the price of the material), old metal frame windows ($3k and 3 months of renovating them) and siding material ($7.5k) along with all the necessities.

We were hoping by the new year, things would change for the better but it just has been getting worse, and he still didn't find any work. If my father remains unemployed we could lose the property and all the hard work and love that went into the house, and with the renovations not being finished, the house will very likely be demolished because it’s faster and cheaper to build a new modern house.

On the property there is also a barn, and an outhouse that is registered as a historical landmark. The barn, built in 1937, needs to be fixed because the rain is destroying the inside wood structure little by little. There is also a very old garage with 2 floors, full of my dad and his wife’s belongings, that got crushed by an old giant 90ft pine tree that fell 2 years ago after a storm (many trees fell around the neighborhood the same day, which is very uncommon around here.)

With the money donated, my dad will be able to buy his wife’s share of the property to save the house, approximately between $40k to $50k (not sure of the real amount right now), the debt, and some expense costs for the materials to finish the renovations. A bathroom (average cost of $20k) and a kitchen (average cost of $45k) need to be built from scratch also.

When the farm will be renovated, we intend to grow organic vegetables and have some animals. We intend to create an artistic community, host some fun events and create a safe heaven for nature, people and animals. We are all artists living on the property, so we intend on making this property as beautiful as it once was, if not more whilst preserving the historical landscape.

We know a lot of people are struggling today and are going through tough times, so we thank you for your kindness and generosity, it means the world to us. Anything helps!