sunlit_music | (no subject)

Please read the following text in italics below. It is from divaerb's post at the lj community good_ideas. It is about a woman called Eileen Butler whose family is financially struggling and at risk of homelessness. Her family's house has 5 payments due January 1st.

We have lived in our home since December of 1998. It is 1200 sq feet, 3 bdrm, 2 bath. Nothing fancy, but a great starter home for us. Then in Dec. of 2001 we adopted our 1st daughter at 2 days old and her sister 13 months later in January of 2003. Everyone says that the girls are ’so lucky’, because they would have gone into foster care. That’s not why we adopted them. We knew this was God through and through - and we are the ones who are so very fortunate.\

Anyway, my husband is a pastor but the church was small
so he has always worked a full time job.

In May of 2007 we left the denomination we had been a part of for 13 years. It was a hard decision, but for moral and theological reasons, we knew it was time to leave. When we left we lost our housing and car allowance. What we didn’t expect is that at that same time I was hospitalized with pneumonia for 4 days, so my husband had to miss work (without pay) to care for our girls.

Then the end of June, just as I thought I was getting stronger, I got sick again and was put in ICU with a different type of pneumonia. Another 4 days in the hospital, but this time with a much longer recovery.

During this time we were struggling financially, and in August of 2007 our cars were repossessed. The same bank holds our mortgage and car loan, and they would not give back our cars until both debts were caught up. My husband drives an hour each way to work 5 days a week and there isn’t public transportation that is available. So we were able to borrow the money from a friend to get everything caught up.

It was touch and go for awhile, but we made it through and in February, with our tax refund, repaid the friend and used what was left to pay bills. (In March we had to put in a new Drain Field. Cost: $2800.00) By June of 2008 we were in dire straights again with the house and the bank was threatening. By this time I was well enough and had been looking for work. I was supposed to begin a position in September that would pay enough and work out perfectly with my daughter’s school schedule. I called the bank and explained this and pretty much pleaded for some way to work things out. We were told if we could pay the taxes and insurance we could sign paperwork to begin making payments again in September for the house and July for the cars. A fresh start - perfect!

Two weeks before I was to start work I found out I had no job because the funding wasn’t available. I immediately started looking for something - anything. I only got called for one interview and was 2nd in line for the position. I couldn’t even get a telemarketing job. I actually do have a lead on a position and a contact in the company, but nothing will happen until after the new year and we need help immediately.

As of right now we owe 3 months on the cars. They aren’t fancy, but they get us where we need to go. My husband is driving my 1999 van because it’s not safe enough for me to drive (his words). It has no heat or AC (and we live in FL) and only one window would roll down partially - but not anymore.

There is also no power steering. Even though he drives as much as he does, he rarely complains. I am driving his 2003 truck and both vehicles have over 100,000 miles on them. The house will have 5 payments due on January 1st and we have no time left.

I just can’t imagine having to tell our girls that we don’t have a home.

I think that would be the hardest part of all of this for us. Especially when they see us, mostly their father, always there for others. It’s not uncommon to find him in the worst neighborhood of our city on the side of the road trying to encourage the men who hang out there because they have no hope. Until recently, we were the ones who helped others at the holidays, never thinking we would end up as the ones needing help.

The amount that we need to catch up is $4700.00 without the late fees. If we were able to do that, I think the bank would work with us on the late fees.

By the way, we have started a new church. It is VERY small, but we believe it is to be a place of healing and new beginnings. That is also what we are hoping for - a new beginning.

Our Paypal account info is: frjoeb@gmail.com

Thanks for anything you can do. It is appreciated more than I can tell you.
Sincerely,
Eileen Butler