EMERGENCY: Help Cody & Mom keep their home

Hi, my name is Dawn Abrahamson, and the photo is of my daughter Cody - 39 years old. We are trying to raise funds for future attorney & court costs and to possibly purchase our home of 36 years. It seems we will need a jury trial in the near future to resolve issues with my half sister. My attorney costs & misc. costs related to this case in civil and probate courts has already exceeded 25,000.00.

Cody was born with a rare muscle disease and was put on a ventilator immediately. She wasn't expected to survive or be healthy enough to go home with me. She beat the odds. Cody has not been hospitalized very much since discharge at 13 months old. Cody & I are living in a duplex that my great-grandfather bought for us.

It's a complicated story. My name was on the deed, but because Cody receives funding monthly, my name couldn't be on the deed and live with her. I have been her primary caregiver all her life. My parents switched it to my half-sister's name in 2007 or so. The understanding is and always is that this is our place. We never had an issue until my parents passed away within the last 3½ years. Now half-sister wants to sell our home and keep all profits; she calls my duplex her retirement funds. She has buyers waiting. ( the want to be buyers have moved out. A single girl now moved in.) Cody can now stay until this is all resolved. I have been harassed and intimidated in the last year. This house wasn't bought to make a monthly profit, only to maintain itself through rental income with me and my two kids living here.

Back in 2007, I wasn't able to maintain both units. Now I could live in the upper unit and still be on call. Our future living here isn't guaranteed with the impending sale. It's on hold with a Lis Pendens I filed in January of 2023 with my civil lawsuit. A few days after my half-sister was served court papers, she had someone call Disability Social Services to report me. (It has now come out that one of the want to be buyers teported me to social services with my half sister's knowledge. )Social Services approached the door, but I would only let them in with a covid test. Forty-eight hours later, they returned with the local police dept, an ambulance and were going to remove Cody. They walked in without a covid test against my house rules. The nurse working convinced the social workers everything was fine. I was reported for not allowing "friends" in, and Cody hadn't been on social media. Covid is still going on in my city.

The home has had many modifications to accommodate Cody's medical needs. Her room is like an ICU. She has two ventilators, two suction machines, a nebulizer machine, tanks of oxygen, a hospital bed, and a concentrator. Carpeting has been removed from her room as she has many allergies and gets nebulizer treatments 6 to 10 times daily while healthy. There are no gas appliances in the unit due to oxygen use. Central air was recently installed, and we are waiting on her replacement wheelchair ramp; the 33-year-old one rotted out. The front porch had many modifications also to accommodate an ambulance gurney that Cody uses for transport. The Electrical was upgraded, and three outlets were installed outside so we could plug in the vent if needed while in the yard. We also have a generator for extended light-out times.

Cody has nurses and me that care for her 24/7. This past November 2022, she developed diabetes after being diagnosed with covid. She got through the covid but not diabetes. She requires blood sugar checks and shots four times daily. Cody is pretty stable, but when she gets sick, it's good that we're 10 minutes from the hospital with lights & sirens. I have spent all her life trying to give her a good and everyday life for someone on a ventilator. It is essential to keep Cody in a home with her required accommodations. A move could be detrimental to her health and costly. Many people have known Cody in the neighborhood through the years. With covid, she has minimal visitors. Finding a rental that would allow modifications (and to do changes) that she requires to keep life stable is challenging.

Cody uses a Tobi Dynavox mini-computer for communication and Facebook. In May 2022, her method of accessing Dynavox stopped working. We are looking for someone to teach her Eyegaze. At present, Cody communicates with her eyes. Cody is a high school graduate and has taken many online classes to further her education.

The judge insists I get an attorney. ( I got an attorney in Aug.2023) The judge stated we might need a jury trial. This is why I'm trying to raise funds for court and purchase the home bought for us back in 1991. I have nine witness statements that my parents talked about the duplex. They can say the same thing in court as in their accounts. This is a sad situation all the way around. My son was evicted this past June from the upper. He was my backup person. I sometimes work long shifts, up to 36 hours, when staff isn't available. The "buyer" is already moving stuff in the upper unit. I'm unhappy about this going down while we are in court. My half-sister refuses to speak the truth; she knows the responsibility she was given about the duplex, as my dad went over this with her and me about a month before he passed. I have a civil case in Milwaukee that can be viewed online at wcca.wicourts.gov (#2023CV000719) if you want to know more.

Sorry, this is so lengthy. This isn't everything. Please share and share again so this post gets out there. If you can give anything, it will go towards our cause for future attorney & court fees and possibly the purchase of our home. Cody and I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read this post; I'm sorry it's all over the place, like my mind and thoughts are. We are trying to stay positive despite the conditions we live under. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

* Thank you for all of your donations, encouragement, and support. It is appreciated more than I can say.