D'Arcy and Family Need Your Help

Whether you know D’Arcy from high school, from her impressive Bear Mountain Botanicals business, from the Lyme disease support group she started, or even from just living in the Lewiston/Auburn area, you know that she goes out of her way for people, and she puts her heart and soul into everything she does. It’s in her nature to help others.

But now she desperately needs our help.

These past couple of years have been rife with devastating health and financial setbacks for D’Arcy and her family. As many of you know, for years, D’Arcy and her husband have battled Lyme disease, a debilitating and often-misunderstood condition that has been incredibly difficult to manage and extremely frustrating to treat. Because of severe Lyme symptoms and related depression, her husband hasn’t been able to work full time in about four years and is currently fighting for disability benefits. Some of you also might know that D’Arcy’s young daughter was extremely sick last year and was in and out of doctors’ offices and the hospital for months, further adding to the family’s anguish and mounting medical expenses.

What many of you might not know is that D’Arcy lost her brick-and-mortar shop in downtown Turner in March after the landlord unexpectedly evicted her. It was soul-crushing and a devastating financial blow, especially considering the time, money and energy she and her husband had invested in renovating the shop and the fact that it had been the primary source of income for the family. Although D’Arcy still has her online store (bearmountainbotanicals.com), her ability to work and perform day-to-day activities has been severely limited due to frightening blackouts that she started experiencing in September. The first time she blacked out, she got a concussion after hitting her head on her cast-iron tub. Doctors think that she suffered a stroke, and tests show a skull bone lesion, but she is still seeking answers about treatment and recovery. To make matters worse, because of the family’s mounting financial struggles, D’Arcy’s home is now in foreclosure, and she and her husband and two children will be homeless if they can’t reinstate the mortgage by Dec. 2.    

As you can imagine, D’Arcy has been under incredible stress. The physical, emotional and financial toll everything has taken on her and her family has been more than anyone should ever have to bear. I’m hoping that we can raise enough money through this site to help D’Arcy and her family get back on their feet. If you would prefer to donate time and resources (fire wood would be an enormous help right now), that would be greatly appreciated as well. Every little bit helps. No family struggling with health issues should ever have to worry about making ends meet and face losing their home, especially right before the holidays. Please give what you can and thank you in advance.