"I Won't Give Up!"

My video tells the story so here's just a fast update:  Within days of posting  my YouTube video it got nearly 15,000 views and made buzfeed. The mayor’s office was flooded with emails....Thank you so much! 

 

Shortly after, however, I took down my video in an act of "good will.” The City of Valparaiso promised that, if I took down my video, temporary housing help and good faith long-term negotiations would begin right away.  It was no surprise to me that the whole thing was dragged out for months with no "good will" acts coming forth from the city. We’ve had no temporary housing help and no pre-trail settlement offer anywhere near adequate to restore our house.

 

Friends who gave the mayor and the city officials the "benefit of the doubt" are pretty upset, but not as upset, angry and hurt as I am! 

 

I recently had a cool dream. It was days before Christmas and my mom was baking with my little brothers and sisters in a house, which was unfamiliar to me, but felt like home. Afterwards, we were decorating our own tree with decorations that we made. To an outsider, there is nothing spectacular about this dream, but at the end of it, my two little brothers were jumping on my mom's bed singing and dancing--just like my brothers and I used to do--as she ironed our best clothes for church on Christmas morning. Despite it being just a dream, it was so cool to feel that comfortable again, but the reality is that time and opportunity are slipping away before my eyes.  This is our last year together before we begin heading  off to college. 

 

 

I may be a kid, but this is my family and I refuse to give up until everything taken from us has been restored! 

 

But not giving up now means going to trial. Even though we have a good legal case,  the trial will be expensive. Especially when you are up against a city with endless resources. We have to interview or pay lots of experts to prove the damages to our home and family health. And winning in court could take years.

 

Thank you for your generosity! Anything you give will go either for trial expenses or for urgent family housing until we win.