Chelle Byrne

Officially in Orlando enjoying the warm and sunny weather. But the looming burden of finding a place to make out own is still weigh us down heavily. any shares, donations, or leads on a place to live would be exceptional!!

We didn't exactly get the wedding of our dreams. Far from it, actually...‍ Life had other plans—as it so often does for us. Instead, on December 7, 2025, we eloped in a very, very intimate ceremony and officially started our life together. It wasn't the big wedding, the dress-shopping experience, or the celebration we'd once imagined, but at the end of the day, we got the most important part: Each other. The people who have helped us along the way have already made a bigger difference than they probably realize. Previous support helped us through some incredibly difficult circumstances, and we've been working hard to repair our credit. We're finally reaching the point where qualifying for a first-time homebuyer program may actually be possible by the end of the year. We're dreaming about what "home" could look like for our little family. Maybe that's finally buying a house. Maybe it's an apartment while we continue working toward that goal. We've even talked about saying screw conventional living, getting an RV, and eventually seeing all 50 states together. But first… We're FINALLY Going on Our Honeymoon! ❤️ On September 1st, we're heading to Orlando, Florida for one week! Through an unexpected opportunity and vouchers, we were able to make the biggest pieces of the trip possible—and for once, it felt like life handed us something good. Orlando is also close to Chelle's uncle, and Billy has never been to Florida! Our first eight months of marriage have been anything but easy. Outside circumstances, family issues, financial stress, housing instability, and more chaos than we ever expected have put an enormous amount of pressure on us during a time when we were supposed to be enjoying being newlyweds. So this trip means more to us than just "going on vacation." It's a chance to just be Billy and Chelle, newlyweds, for once. Celebrating our love means showing each other just how much we admire and appreciate one another. Thinking about exploring Orlando, eating something ridiculous, and doing something spontaneous almost seems like a pipe dream... but we're hellbent on, at the very least, embracing the change of scenery and spending time together without the panic or pain of everyday life weighing us down. We want to laugh, take pictures, make memories, and simply enjoy being together. Most importantly, it's a chance to breathe ‍‍and actually celebrate the fact that despite everything that's happened around us, we chose each other, and we keep choosing each other. And don't worry—anyone who knows Chelle knows she's ridiculously frugal. Getting stranded in Florida because she blew the budget is basically impossible. But flying all the way to Orlando just to admire the hotel pool because everything else costs money would make for a pretty tragic honeymoon. So we'd love a little help actually experiencing Florida while we're there. But This Is About Something Bigger, Too. The majority of what we raise will be set aside for stable housing because, in the long run, that's our most important goal. A smaller portion will help us enjoy our honeymoon without putting ourselves into an even more difficult financial position. Our current living situation has become increasingly uncertain, and we're facing the very real possibility of needing to leave. We're doing everything we can to find resources, contribute where we can, and create a realistic path forward. But housing costs—application fees, deposits, first month's rent, moving expenses, utility deposits, and everything else that comes with starting over—add up incredibly quickly. When you're living on a fixed income because of disability and health-related limitations, finding affordable housing can feel nearly impossible. So many landlords require applicants to earn three times the monthly rent, and meeting that requirement on a fixed income while still being able to afford everyday living expenses can be incredibly difficult. That's one of the biggest reasons we decided to create this fundraiser. Without some help getting over that initial financial hurdle, the possibility of losing our current housing without having somewhere else to go feels more real every day. And that uncertainty affects more than just our finances. We both also live with Borderline Personality Disorder, which makes having stability, structure, and a safe place to call home incredibly important to us. Stability means survival—but even more than that, it means opportunity. Stability gives us the chance to build the family we've dreamed about. It gives us an environment where managing our mental health and continuing to work toward recovery and remission can actually feel possible. When you have to fight your own brain on a daily basis—when it can sometimes feel like the cruelest enemy you've ever encountered—having stability, structure, and a safe place to call home can be one of the biggest breaths of fresh air imaginable. Stability could give us the opportunity to stop spending so much of our energy simply surviving and finally put that energy toward actually living. For Chelle, that means continuing to write and hopefully one day publishing the books she's been working so hard on. For Billy, it means having the stability and opportunity to return to school, earn the licensing he needs, and work toward his dream of starting his own HVAC business. And for both of us, it means having the chance to grow our family, work toward our goals, and build a life where we're not constantly waiting for the next crisis. We don't expect stability to magically fix everything. But having a safe place to land would give us something we've desperately needed for a long time: the opportunity to stop merely surviving our lives and finally start building them. We're not sharing that for sympathy. We're sharing it because mental health is part of our reality, and instability—especially not knowing whether you're going to have a safe and secure place to live—takes an enormous toll. When your entire support system consists of maybe four or five people who are also dealing with their own lives and struggles, things can feel incredibly bleak. It's hard not to wonder sometimes whether life will ever simply let us exist without another round of turmoil waiting around the corner. Having our own home isn't about having something fancy. We just want somewhere we can finally exhale. Somewhere we both feel safe and wanted. Somewhere we aren't constantly wondering when circumstances are going to change again. Somewhere our little family can actually start building the future we've spent so much time dreaming about. ❤️What Your Help Means ❤️ We aren't expecting anyone to finance some extravagant honeymoon or magically buy us a house. We know that's neither realistic nor what we're asking for. We're simply asking our friends, family, acquaintances, and anyone our story happens to reach to help us make this next chapter a little easier. Our day-to-day lives haven't often been easy. We both carry mental-health struggles and the baggage of past trauma, and "easy" isn't something either of us knows particularly well. It would be wonderful to have even one period of our lives where things feel a little lighter—and where stability feels like a goal we can actually reach. The majority of donations will be protected for our housing and moving needs. A portion will help us enjoy the honeymoon we never thought we'd get to have, while still making sure our long-term goal of finding stable housing comes first. And we want to be transparent about that. The majority of what we raise will be kept separate from our everyday spending so that money intended for housing stays housing money. Chelle's mom—one of the biggest supporters of our life together—is helping us keep those funds separate and accountable. She recently retired and has offered to help us manage that portion so it stays protected for its intended purpose. After all, in her eyes, stability means we're one step closer to the future—and hopefully those grandchildren she's waiting for. ❤️ The honeymoon portion is simply about giving us the chance to experience one of the normal wedding traditions we weren't able to have. So much of what normally comes with getting married—the dress shopping, the big ceremony, the reception, the celebration—never happened for us because of the chaos surrounding our lives at the time. Our honeymoon is one tradition we still have the opportunity to experience together. Being able to actually enjoy Orlando without putting ourselves into a worse financial position would be an incredible gift. More than anything, it would give us a brief chance to step away from the drama and uncertainty at home, take a breath, enjoy being newlyweds, and make some of the happy memories we didn't get the opportunity to make around our wedding. We don't need an extravagant vacation. We just want the opportunity to finally celebrate being married. $5 might buy us coffees while we're exploring. $20 might help with dinner. $50 could help us experience something in Orlando that we've never done before. And every dollar that comes home with us gets us another step closer to a security deposit, moving expense, or another piece of the stable home we're working so hard toward. If you can't donate, sharing our fundraiser helps too. Please, please share. Sometimes reaching the right person is just as valuable as a donation itself. Our wedding didn't happen the way we'd once imagined. Chelle never got the experience of going out and trying on wedding dresses she'd always dreamed about. There wasn't a giant reception or an elaborate celebration. And that's okay. But Billy wants to give his wife an incredible honeymoon and remind her that she is loved, important, and worth celebrating. And Chelle wants to help her husband finally find a place he can call home—somewhere he feels secure, valued, and at peace. At the end of the day, those are the things we want to give each other. Because love gave us freedom from some of the burdens we carried. It gave us the strength to grow together, learn together, and build the skills we need to keep working toward our goals. So maybe love and kindness can help us one more time as we work toward something we've both been desperately craving: A little peace. A little stability. And a place to finally breathe. ❤️ Maybe, with a little help, we can. Thank you for reading our story, sharing our fundraiser, donating, or simply rooting for us. Every bit of kindness means more than you know. With love, Billy & Chelle ❤️ P.S. — If you've been to Orlando, PLEASE send us your recommendations! Cheap, free, weird, romantic, touristy, ridiculous—we want to hear them.

Hi everyone, I’m reaching out because I need help accessing medical care that I cannot afford right now due to an error in my disability coverage leaving me without insurance to receive the treatment I need to avoid long-term and irreversible damage. I have been on disability since 2015, and in 2024 I attempted to reinstate my benefits after stepping away from work. Unfortunately, my expedited reinstatement was not processed correctly, and I was forced to file a new claim. Because of that, I am now facing a two-year waiting period to regain insurance coverage that I should not have lost in the first place. I don’t have the ability to wait two years for care that I need now. One of my biggest concerns right now is my vision. I have high myopia and rely completely on contact lenses to function day-to-day. Without them, I am unable to see clearly beyond very close range. A yearly supply of my contacts alone is over $500 with shipping, and I also need a comprehensive eye exam, including a dilated retinal evaluation and monitoring, which typically costs over $200 without insurance. In addition, I need a basic pair of glasses with high-index lenses, which can cost approximately $100–$150. In addition to my vision, I have long-standing hypothyroidism that has gone untreated due to lack of access to care. This affects my energy, overall health, and ability to function, and it requires lab work, a doctor’s visit, and medication to properly manage. I am actively taking steps to get back on track, including retrieving my medical records and preparing updated documentation for disability, but I need help covering the immediate costs to do so. Funds raised will go toward: • Eye exam, retinal evaluation, and imaging • Contact lenses and a basic pair of glasses • Thyroid lab work and a doctor visit • Prescription medication Any assistance offered means I can focus on improving my health and living my life to the best of my ability, instead of using everything I have just to cover essential medical needs that I should already have insurance for. I will share a break down of costs in the updates. If you are able to help, even a small contribution would make a real difference. If you’re not in a position to donate, sharing this would mean just as much. if I wait til I get coverage it could be to late and I've hit every wall possibly outside of asking for help... Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any support you can give. With appreciation, Chelle