Carter Family Emergency Fund

Thank you for checking this GoFundMe campaign post out. Your attention is much appreciated; even if you can’t help with cash right now, please inform others about our situation if you’d like to help another way.

My mother and I have been living in a hotel room with our four cats since October 17, 2022. We were displaced from our home following Hurricane Ida. We weren’t immediately placed here; I spent four weeks in disaster shelters with our cats; my mother spent that month first in the hospital and then in a nursing home while recovering from influenza. We spent two weeks in another shelter but were moved to this one because this one is wheelchair accessible.

As of this point, our home repair still isn’t finished, and we’ve been forced to rely on our remaining savings to rent this room since March. FEMA hasn’t approved continuance for temporary housing funding or reimbursement for the money we’ve spent, though we have filed an appeal. We’re approved for rental assistance, but there isn’t a rental property that can accommodate our needs within sixty miles of our home. Our insurance isn’t helping either. We’ve been spending the money left over from my father’s death benefits to stay here and keep ourselves fed.

My mother is seventy-five and disabled. She’s also been to the hospital with pneumonia twice since July and is still suffering from respiratory problems; she’s been seeing a physician, but there isn’t a clear diagnosis yet.

I’m also disabled; I haven’t been able to work since 2010 because I have seizures that aren’t fully controlled by medication. I’ve spent the last twelve years taking care of my parents: my mother and my father, who passed away in 2020 from a long illness.

We’ve also been taking care of four cats – all rescues. They’ve been responsible for some of the little relief we’ve had from the stress we’ve suffered, but three have serious health issues.

Our Noel has had surgery for mammary carcinoma.

Bella has seizures; she was shot through the head when she was a feral kitten.

Daphne needs constant medical attention for an ongoing bowel problem.

And Oliver is just a big friendly orange tabby who wants love and attention – from everyone he meets.

My mother and I (and our cats) are in a lot of trouble; we’re in danger of becoming effectively homeless for the foreseeable future. We’re running out of money. My father’s death benefits have depleted almost to nothing, our home still isn’t finished, and FEMA hasn’t yet approved the kind of assistance we can use. I’m keeping our request to the minimum we’ll likely need for now, but I’m sure I’ll have to raise it before long.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for paying attention to someone who can use some help and relief right now. Thank you for caring. And thank you so much for helping if you can. Much love to you all.