Help us get a home for the holidays.

I never imagined I would be typing these words, or find myself in this position. Me, Timothy Gibbs, broke and homeless at 74 years old. My family, Lori, wonderful wife of 48 years, and my disabled adult son, Justin, 48, brain damaged and severely epileptic from a fall in 2012. My wife and I had worked all our adult life, until injuries cut our working life short by a few years.

We have been homeless and looking for affordable housing for over a year. Please read on to learn how this came about, and how, we hope, with the understanding and generous help of strangers, in the giving spirit of Christmas, we can climb out of this deadly spiral.

Hallelujah! We can see a solution to our predicament, we just need a little help for a security deposit and utilities to get back into a small home. That is why we are asking for help.

We returned to Florida in August of 2022. For seven years prior to that we had been living in Colorado where we were caregivers for my mother, 90 years old when we moved there after she suffered a mild heart attack. Otherwise she was extremely healthy, still with all her wits, computer savvy and enjoying life. We did all the shopping, meal preparation, cleaning and taking care of the house. She died suddenly at 97 in 2022. We had thought she would easily make 100.

We had been making plans for when she was gone but this took up by surprise. Once Mom was gone my sister wanted to sell the house ASAP and gave us a few months to vacate. We had a small nest egg and my sister was giving us a small bonus-incentive to get out in a timely fashion. We reserved a truck and made plans to return to Florida.

We knew the Florida market was competitive but we had our small savings. We didn't realize however that current leasing standards would make it almost impossible to rent an apartment.

Then disaster struck. Our savings was targeted and scammed right at the same time we were loading the moving truck. We had nowhere to go but forward, so we finished loading the truck, packed up our two three year old kitties and headed to Florida.

The trip was plagued by Murphy and his law, but we arrived safely. Right away we were shocked to see the great numbers of homeless people, and our hearts cried out for them. There but for the grace of god, I thought. We still didn't feel like we were homeless.

Then I suffered a bad fall, making it painful for me to walk. My wife contracted a bad and lingering case of c difficile, a stubborn bacterial infection that took six weeks to defeat. My sons epileptic seizures became more frequent and more violent. We were fortunate that an old friend let us stay at her ranch for 6 months while we continued looking for something we could afford. While there one night my son suffered an exceptionally violent seizure, and when he wouldn't come out of it we called 911. Checking on him the next day we learned he had been arrested. Apparently he stumbled and fell onto an attendant and was charged with felony battery. A bad seizure leaves him incoherent for sometimes days, during which time he requires sedation.

The next application for an apartment that we qualified for, put down all the fees plus one to hold the front of the line for us, was rejected due to a bad background check. Just being charged with a crime can disqualify you. We lost $500 in application fees. We could no longer include his income with ours to qualify for the income/rent ratio. It was beginning to look hopeless. We had been living in cheap hotels but were nearly broke. We considered moving to another state where rents were cheaper, but Justin had to stay in Florida for his legal problem.

We had burned up our money and that of our relatives and frankly were at our wit's end.

Finally a break, an apartment we can afford, very very small but so much better that the car or the streets. The landlord, on a good word from a mutual friend, is not asking for background check or credit check. We just need the equivalent of one month's rent as a security deposit, plus the first month's rent. Once we get into the apartment we can get by fine as we all three have income from social security and disability. But having already spent a fair amount this month on hotels, we just don't have it right now. I am asking please, give a little to help our cause. We have always been hard working productive people, and will be again, once we are settled. Please give with a big heart, that we may have a very small Christmas in our very small house.

Any donation of any amount will help us reach our goal.

Thank you, Timothy Gibbs