Help Mary & her kids stop eviction

My name is Sibylle and I am writing to you about this campaign on behalf of my friend Mary Piechoski from Philadelphia (USA) who is facing eviction from her apartment in the next two weeks due to rent debts.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Mary has just learned that her partner and father of her three children is dead (he had been missing since the beginning of the month).

This means that Mary and her three children (aged 21, 19 and 15) and their beloved cats could be homeless by early April. Since her elder daughter and son are over 18, there is no guarantee they would be able to stay in the same shelter as their mother, whereas her 15-year-old daughter would be placed in foster care - despite her mum being a loving, kind person who is trying so hard to avoid this. The beloved family cats who are giving Mary and her children so much comfort at this terrible time (you can see Jet and Sid in the campaign photo) would have to be placed in shelters. 

The rent debts of $5000 accumulated because both Mary and her elder daughter have only been able to find temp work over the past half year and Mary's partner, the only one with regular income, has not always paid the rent. Mary and her children have tried their best to work with the landlord, helping with chores (like snow shovelling) around the estate, but unfortunately despite their hardships, the landlord is still pressing charges for eviction. Because she hasn't been able to find work in the past weeks, Mary didn't qualify for rent assistance from social services for the outstanding rents (who only pay if you can prove that you will be able to support yourself after their payments stop). A catch 22 situation if ever there was one.

Despite all this, Mary has fought hard over the past weeks to stay positive, both she and her elder daughter looked for jobs wherever they could.

Just a couple of days ago, finally both Mary and her daughter managed to find jobs through a new temp agency. This would be good news, but unfortunately the threat of eviction remains. She would have to be employed for 30 days before she qualifies for rent assistance for her rent debts and then could still be evicted due to the past missed payment, cause she broke a court order by not paying the debts.

This is such an impossibly hard situation to face, especially with the recent tragic loss of her partner Eric. How can she and her 21-year-old daughter concentrate on being at her best in the new job with the loss of a long-time partner and father to cope with and the threat of eviction despite all their efforts still hanging over their heads?

Mary is a friend of ours on YOU app (https://you-app.com/), an app for personal development and small doable changes through micro actions. It's a loving and kind social network where we try and support each other in doing micro actions to effect big changes. I have gotten to know Mary as an incredible kind, loving and inspiring person who always looks for the positive and tries to find a silver lining in every situation. Her way of facing the blows life has dealt her have been truly inspiring to me many times.

A few days ago, I woke up at 5 AM, thinking I was having problems when I read Mary's news that she and her kids are facing eviction from their apartment. In the days since, she has also learnt of Eric's death. She owes $5000 in rent payments and would need about $3000 to move out of her current flat for down payments and utilities transfer for a new place. (She might have to do that because even if she pays the outstanding $5000 she can still be evicted since she didn't comply with a court-ordered payment. And her landlords seem keen on having her evicted.)

My thoughts immediately went to ways we can help her. Since there is no financial assistance from official sites available to her, I am starting this fundraiser to help her and her kids (and cats) prevent this eviction. Already many other YOUfriends have pledged their support.

If we get enough micro actions (= small donations according to what each of us can afford at the moment) together, I hope we will stop this from happening to Mary and her family. Any way in which you can contribute is highly appreciated. $8000 for one person is a substantial sum, for many not so much. So I hope we get many people to help and do this! Let's help a loving inspiring person in need.

Love from here ❤️ Sibylle

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IMPORTANT NOTICE and update on 28 March 2017:

First of all, thank you all who donated so very much for your support! It is truly heart-warming and amazing!

Due to GoFundMe policy, any funds donated will only be available to withdraw after a week. GoFundMe also keeps about 7% in transaction fees. This is means, the campaign need to collect at least $5380 for Mary to receive the full $5000 .

The sheriff lock-out date (the actual eviction from her apartment) is scheduled for 4 April, a week from today - which is why it is crucial to match the $5380 asap.

As said before, the eviction could still go through, depending on the landlord's goodwill. So the more bolster we can collect for her in case she needs to find a new place, the better.

Thank you so, so much for your suport!!!