SAVE OUR HOME SWEET HOME

March 2021 UPDATE: 

The big, hard, sad  news is that it is not looking possible for us to buy the current home we are renting. The landlords have once again decided to list the house but this time for much more than previously thought which takes us out of the running for the mortgage and purchase. To say we are concerned is an understatement. We know how few, if any, rentals are available on The Coast and we are watching the few houses being listed selling in a matter of days for well over the asking price. We never considered that in our lifetime we would even need to consider purchasing a home for over three quarters of a million dollars but that is the lowest end of the prices being listed  for a 3-4 bedroom home.

But we still have some hope. Thanks to so many amazingly generous people we have raised over $25,000. Combined with our savings, we are well on our way to securing a down payment. However what we believed would be a sufficient amount for a down payment is no longer quite as sufficient.

So here we are again with our hands very humbly outstretched asking for more help and support. We need to raise another $25,000 to get us with range of our goal of being able to buy a home that will be large enough for us all to live in together. We are deeply saddened that it will not be the current home we are living in and we hope that we will be able to stay on as renters even in the short term?

We have certainly had our ups and downs over the last few months with Randy’s mental health challenges and changing of high schools to Kim’s debilitating vertigo and Rochelle’s insane schedule with work and school. With the uncertainties surrounding COVID and our living situation we will likely need to postpone our wedding plans until we know we are safely settled in our new home. Even if we have to rent for a while longer or find a mobile home to purchase in the interim, we are still very determined to buy a home for us all to live in as a family.

if you know of any rentals or homes to purchase, please reach out to us. It’s going to take a village to find a home for us. Please contribute if you can and please share with others who might also be able to support us. We know our community will carry us through this unsuspected and difficult crisis and we are truly grateful to each and every one of you.

December 2020 UPDATE:

Wow!! We are just a few thousand dollars away from achieving our original online campaign goal! In the beginning of this journey, we could have never imagined the amazing support we have received. We are blessed to be surrounded by such a supportive community. We somewhat arbitrarily set the amount $25,000 thinking it was an extremely lofty goal. Look where we are now!! We are totally humbled and forever grateful!

Our amazingly generous landlords have decided to delay the listing of the house which will allow us time to secure funds and meet all the financial requirements. They have been super supportive to us all along and we want to acknowledge our good fortune.

We still have a ways to go to secure the rest of the down payment but we are hugely on our way. We have been asked by members in our community to leave this campaign open and increase the amount needed to the more realistic amount $50,000. We will continue to accept donations. We will continue to input our own personal progress. We will continue to share our journey with our amazing community.

Please continue to share our campaign and check back in on us.
We are going to raise all the money we need!  
We are going to buy our Home!
Thank you!!

FALL 2020

Here’s the deal. We need your help. We need to raise money for a down payment so we can buy the house we are living in.

Last summer Rochelle, myself, our two sons Randy, Parker and niece Maya moved into our amazing dream home. We were elated when we found this wonderful home that suited us perfectly. We each had our own space to grow while no longer crowding into each other. I was able to work from home, with the dogs, while Rochelle and the kids were close to work and school. We could not believe our good fortune but knew our love and commitment to each other carried us together to our new home. Every day since then we gratefully acknowledge our good fortune and say, “we live here!”

This last year however has been incredibly stressful for us all!

Shortly after moving in Rochelle's father died and her Mom moved in with us. We luckily had the room to allow her to be close to our family so she could begin her journey to deal with her huge loss. Rochelle was able to take off work to be here with her mother and process her own grief.

Our fourteen-year-old son Randy ended up in the emergency psychiatric ward at Children's Hospital in Vancouver in December, for the second time. Since then he has had two more major instances of needing medical attention, one of which we had to ride out at home due to the lack of services available during the pandemic, and one more recently brought us back to the Children’s Hospital psychiatric ward. With no adolescent mental health supports in place here on The Coast it became even more important that our home became a safe sanctuary for him. As he was adjusting to the recent change in meds, he would wake up in the night terrified, not knowing where he was. He needed to sleep with his light on so he would know that he was safe in his room. Although we think we may finally be getting the right supports set up we know this is going to be a very long haul for him and we are extremely grateful Rochelle, her mother and I are able to be supporters and advocates for him and each other in our home.

Our seven-year-old son Parker has long beautiful, traditional braided hair. He had a very hard time adjusting to all the changes for him here on The Coast. After nearly 2 years of being bullied in school we transferred him to the elementary school here in Davis Bay. He has friends in the neighbourhood, and he is so much happier. He has even begun working with a therapist to help him along.

Once Covid hit, our home became even more important for us as we were all forced to stay home together every day, all day. Rochelle started working in our home office. With the film and television industry shut down my income disappeared, and savings had to be heavily dipped into. I still found myself working to keep my clients informed and continued on with any other community work I could, still rescuing bulldogs, picking up and delivering masks, posting signs about saving our local bear population, organizing information Zoom meetings for our neighbourhood. The kids stayed home, and we attempted to home-school as best we could. After completing her high school diploma, Maya moved back in with her mother, just in time to take in my adapted son from NYC to quarantine. Both our sons found this time exceedingly difficult on them mentally and emotionally. It was an incredibly stressful time for us all but at least we were able to all be together in our very special home.

Last week we received notice that our landlords were listing the house for sale. This house. Our house. Our Home. Our safe sanctuary for family, friends and dogs. Since the market is ridiculously hot right now, houses are being listed and sold at alarming rates as city dwellers move here to take advantage of The Coast living. We knew we needed to act fast. Rental opportunities are extremely rare and there is almost no chance we will be able to find another home big enough nor close enough, that will allow our dogs, let alone my continued bulldog rescue.

Our wonderful landlords have agreed to delay the listing by a week to allow us a little time to see if we might be able purchase the house from them. They have even offered to lower the cost to help us out. A fabulous mortgage broker has stepped in to guide us and crunch numbers and its looking like the mortgage could be reality.

BUT even with Rochelle and I's leftover (and sadly limited) savings, and the first-time home buyers reduced rate, we are still short for about half our down payment. We need to find a way to buy this house. We need to continue to live here. This is not only where we live but it is our HOME. Our family home. A place where I can continue to rescue bulldogs. A place where our extended family can come when the need arises. A place for Rochelle's mother to live while she heals from the loss of her husband of 41 years. A place for us to raise our sons where they can feel safe physically, mentally, and emotionally.

A few close friends and clients have stepped forward, offered their emotional and financial support, and suggested that this fundraising idea may be the best option for us. Asking for help has never been something I have ever been able to do easily. Attempting to raise money for a down payment on a house is not something I would have ever imagined myself doing. But this is not for me! This is a home and sanctuary for my family, and I am not afraid to ask for help to support them and keep them safe.

Rochelle and I are planning to be married in July 2021. We have decided to cancel our potentially costly wedding and opt for a small ceremony in our home followed by a big picnic in a park nearby. We would like to invite everyone in our generous community to join us for our celebration.

Please help in any way you can. My family Thanks You immensely.