John Mead & Mom, Patty Mead, Fire Relief Fund

• “You are never strong enough that you don’t need help.” – Cesar Chavez    

• Hello friends, family, acquaintances, and friends of friends & family & acquaintances. Thank you all for taking the time out of your busy, hectic, & sometimes, I'm sure, very stressful everyday lives of your own to checkout my fundraiser. 

• It has taken me some time to start this fundraiser. Not only because of all the stressful & exhausting aftermath of things I've been dealing with as a result of the recent tragedy that happened to my mom & myself, of which I will explain shortly, but because of being afraid to ask for help or just not quite knowing how to humble myself in order to go about doing so. Finally after many sleepless nights of couch surfing wherever I could & askimg myself over & over again the question of, "what's next?", a good long-time friend of 30+ years had reminded me that...

• And also... 

• So here we are...

• Lot's of you reading this may know me or at least know of me. However, I know lots of you reading may or will not. Which is a good thing, though. It just means that with the help of people sharing, my story & fundraiser are being seen. Thank you all for that. Therefore, please allow me to introduce myself & explain the current unfortunate tragedy which has brought me here. 

• My name is John Mead and my mom's name is Patty Mead. I am 49 years old & just 3 short months away from my 50th. My mom is 72 years old & just about 5 months away from her 73rd. I have no siblings & the two of us are our only family here in Cali. My mom is one of seven siblings. However, her two brothers. My uncles, who resided here as well have since passed away. All our remaining family live out of state in Erie, Pennsylvania. My mom has had a very tough & stressful life. Most of it spent raising me. No matter what that may have took. Shortly after the passing of her eldest brother, my uncle, from cancer, I extended the offer for my mom to live with me in an attempt to make her life & living situation just a little bit easier. Turns out, wouldn't you know it, that works both ways.

• Two weeks ago on October 1st early in the AM, we experienced a life changing tragedy which has currently displaced us & by definition of the word has caused us to be literally, homeless along with our animals, which includes our 5 rescued dogs. Yes, you read correctly, 5 rescued dogs.

• Never before have the words or phrases, "it'll never happen to me", or simply, "not me", ever took on more meaning than the night our home caught fire & burned causing us to lose it and everything inside. Whatever wasn't burned & destroyed by flames was either damaged by water & covered in soot or at the very least severely smells of smoke. Most of which is beyond salvageable. I can go on & on with a list of valuables & collectibles, such as autographed Kobe Bryant pictures & other sports memorabilia or things like collectible Jordans. However, what hurts the most are the sentimental & irreplaceable things that were lost. Things such as family heirlooms or momentos left behind by my grandmother & other deceased family, or things like the ashes of deceased old loved & missed pets, and of course old photos & memories. Above all, the place we called home.

• Altnough we have lost so much, I know it is of course important to remember, and thank God, that no lives were lost. Especially the life of my mom who was home asleep in the living room at the time. Thanks to the quick help & attentiveness of concerned neighbors who had banged & banged on the walls of our home in an effort to alert my mom of the fire. Oh, and for their persistence as well, because the first time, there being no signs of smoke or a fire in the house & it being almost 2am, my mom shrug it off thinking it was a ploy to get her outside in order to rob her, and so she returned to sleep on the couch. Meanwhile the fire had started outside at the rear of the house on the carport side, which is where the rear bedroom is (was) located. Thank God for their persistence in pounding & yelling because the 2nd time, although there still being no signs of smoke or a fire inside yet, my mom exited the house & only then did she see the flames for herself. By this time the fire started to spread at an alarming rate. The fire department had already been called & were in route.

• I was not home at the time of the fire. With it being a Saturday night, I left home about 7pm to go watch the Canelo fight with friends. Not knowing the devastation that would be awaiting my arrival back home, or the phone call I received from my mom as I was driving home. Imagine every or any episode of 911 Emergency or Panic 911 that you've ever watched and you can guess how that phone call went. After first wondering why the hell my mom would possibly be calling me at 2am other than there being something wrong, I of course answered. All I could make out from my mom on the phone as she was histerical & crying, were words like "fire".. "smoke".. "the animals".. and... "I don't know what to do". As my heart had already begun to drop, I was trying to get a grasp on where the fire was from her. Was it a flare up in the house or just an appliance or something? If so I could help guide her via phone what to do with the fire extinguisher. However, her cries just kept getting worse & I couldn't make out anything. At this point I wasn't too far from home so I started driving frantically without even waiting at red lights to just get there ASAP! As I was within blocks of the house, my worse thoughts & nightmares came true as I could already see the cloud of black smoke coming from my home in the distance. As I sped closer, I could see fire trucks & police cars entering my complex, and my heart just continued to drop even further, However, I was sure to remain focused on getting there & running to my home snd make sure my mom was ok, and of course, the animals too. As I ran there I seen my mom outside crying histericaly. Ignoring officers warnings to stay back I continued to run by them shouting to them that it was my house! I immeditely grabbed & hugged my mom & then promptly addressed her concern for the animals, that of which she loves so much. Oh, and me too, of course. One of our dogs, our border collie Bandit, had already been with my mom & not leaving her side as if he was protecting her. I then gathered up 2 more dogs with the help of firemen. One of them which was hiding outside & another, my mom's baby, that the fire department carried out from the house. I put the 3 of them in my car & went to continue to comfort my mom, getting her a blanket & a chair. Then I called a long-time & very close friend of mine, who immediately got out of bed, left his family, and came for comfort & support, as I continued to communicate with firemen & police. At this time two dogs were still missing, but we knew that they had gotten out of the yard. Sure enough they did both return by sun up. Sadly we did lose one cat, Cali, from what seemed to be smoke inhalation from the fire.

• At first, after the fire was distinguished, I had hoped & tried to be optimistic that the fire may have been confined to just the rear of the unit & bedroom wall or something. However, when the fire department allowed me in with them for a walk through, I couldn't believe my eyes. Although from the outside you could not tell, the fire had completely spread & destroyed everything in its path inside the home. I was in utter shock. Pretty much everything being a total loss. Again, even things not damaged by flames, were drenched by water & completely covered in soot. Things were thrown about the house both inside & outside to eliminate hot spots or possible flare ups by firemen who's main goal is extinguishing the fire & saving lives. Not to worry about the mess & personal things of loss within

• Every conversation that I have had with people, whether it be neighbors who were all gathered round that night, or any passers by as I sort through the rubble & search for possible salvageable things, or just anyone I tell about what happened, the conversation always goes the same way. Things like, "it could've been worse." Or, "At least your mom is ok and no one got hurt." Or, "Things are replaceable, your lives are not." And, "At least your mom & the dogs are ok.". These are the ways every conversation I have & will continue to have will probably go every time this story is told.

• Albeit, this all be true. I am certainly very grateful that my mom is alive and she got out safe & unharmed. At least physically amyway. Mentally, she, and myself, are very traumatized, exhausted, & super stressed. Definitely not good for her blood pressure or mine as well. Although be it, still alive & ticking. Thanks once again to the help, persistence, & quick thinking of neighbors. I am certsinly very thankful that the dogs are also all ok and that nobody else's unit got burned, or was effected by this.

• Although it be true, property, personal items, & materialistic things can all be replaced and my moms life, the dogs life, & the life of myself are whats most important, it unfortunately doesn't take away from the fact that we still lost absolutely everything & the expenses & aftermath that now ensue. Which is what has led me here and to ask for help.

• A very heartfelt thanks for some immediate help & assistance thats been given to us from certain individuals & close friends. Along with assistance from other very good people in many different forms from clothes to some cash or just a place to shower & crash. The American Red Cross has also helped us out with providing immediate assistance in the form of a Visa card with $640 to be used for clothes, food, or shelter. They have also helped by refering us to different organizations which privide numerous types of assistance & have since checked in on us periodically to see how we are doing. A special thanks to Kat at The American Red Cross for that. The local El Monte Fire Department also helped out with immediate assistance, again in the form of a Visa card with $250. Although those funds were certainly needed & very much appreciated, as you could imagine, especially in this economy, those funds have already been exhausted within the first 2 weeks of the fire for shelter, some necessary immediate clothing, & food for my mom, myself, & the dogs. Not to mention gas & other bills which need to be maintained & paid in the meantime. Things like car insurance, cell phones, credit card bills, etc. There have also been other expenses such as renting a U-haul & a storage unit to move and store any possible salvageable things we may have been able to retrieve from the rubble or bulkier items that weren't touched on the outside of the unit like tools and such.

• This brings me to a rather large focal point of my fundraiser. As owner of the unit, I am responsible for disposal of all the mess including the hauling out & disposal of the unit itself. I have already spoke with property management who need to have the unit removed along with all hazardous materials cleaned up as soon as possible. The smell of fire & soot is something thst is definitely not healthy or anything that the other residents want to have to deal with. Especially for one immediate neighbor who is recently going through chemotherapy and should definitely not be breathing the toxicity. This disposal process is very expensive and can cost upwards of $10,000 - $15,000. 

• As a result of this, as I stated in the beginning of my story, my mom & myself along with animals consisting of 5 dogs, are now literally currently homeless and we are in desperate need of a solution. We initially had thought we found a temporary place where my mom can stay with the dogs and attempt to keep her job being close enough to work, meanwhile I comtinue to deal with things as I couch surf, showering & crashing at different friends houses or just in my car. Well, that didn't work out & after just about 5 days we needed to find another solution. Currently, temporarily, we are both staying with a good close friend of mine out in the high deset where he has a kennel & plenty of room for us & the dogs and has opened up his home to us. Being so far from her work, 67 miles, my mom had to take a temporary leave from her job until we figure out what's next. Again, this is only a temporary arrangement. Hopefully until the end of the month & we get a bettr idea of what to do moving forward. Also at the end of the month, I'd have to pay another month's storage at $235. Which in our current financial & living situation, I'm trying to avoid. 

• Basically my mom and myself need to find a new living situation for ourselves & the animals consisting of 5 dogs and we need to do it ASAP. Yea, not easy! Especially the part about 5 dogs. It's hard enough finding an affordable place for just us. However, there are options out there, but may involve us having to move out to the high desert where rents are more affordable & a more likely situation accepting of the dogs. Even so, we need to find the money for a security deposit and first & last months rent on places that for a 2 bed 1 bath start at about $2,000+ on average For rent. And again theres the situation witb the animals which needs to be accommodated. This process can take time. Time that we really do not have. Of course wherever we move will also incur moving costs as well. That is all only if we can, want to, and decide to stay in California. 

• As a result of this life changing tragedy & given the circumstances my mom & myself are faced with, we have been asked by our only remaining family to pack up and head back east to Erie, Pennsylvania where we can reestablish ourselves & be amongst family. My mom's 3 sisters, my aunts, and their husband's, my uncles, are really pushing for us to get out of California and make this move where they as family will be available to help us get situated, reestablished, & start over once we are there. 

• Albeit, this be a very great & tempting opportunity to start over somewhere else and be amongst family, it is also a very costly process. Although, it is looking more & more likely this being the absolute best or only option & outcome for us given our situation & needing to find housing immediately. We will also be doing this at a time of year where the weather is changing and becoming very cold in that part of the country, so this move to drive across country of 57 hours would have to be done before November 1st & the weather drastically starts to change. As it is, we will be going from sunny 65°- 75° winter temperatures here in Cali to 10° - 20° winter temperatures back east. Oh, and of course, snow.

• If we decide to go this route, which is the direction things are currently leaning given our circumstances, this move cross country would consist of driving both my mom's car & my car along with a 3rd person driving a U-haul. A close long-time friend of over 30 years has offered to help & assist with that part. We would then have to buy him a plane ticket back. This moving trip would involve approximately 57 hours of driving or about 3 days if completely non-stop which is next to impossible for the 3 of us to do in 3 separate vehicles with no rest. Especially for my 72 year old mother along with transporting the dogs & cats. There would definitely have to be at least a couple nights of overnight hotel stays for us to get the necessary rest & freshen up. Realistically with that in mind the trip would take at least about 5-6 days. Financially including gas, the U-Haul rental, weigh stations, food, hotel stay for 3, and a one way plane ticket back, we have calculated. & estimated this move across country at an expense of approximately $10,000. Once arrived we would need to get snow tires on both cars in order to drive during the winter months. Snow tires will cost about $800 per car & are absolutely 100% necessary if you want to drive back east in the winter. I'm just trying to be realistic & put everything in perspective as to avoid any surprises.

• Well, there you have it everyone. I have started this fundraiser because my mom and myself are in dire straights and have nowhere else to turn. Not because we want to take a leisure vacation or go to Disneyland. Not because we are trying to put someone through college or need a new motor put in a car. Not because we need to rsise funds to pay a vet bill for a sick or injured animal that needs surgery. Or not even for a loved one or someone in need of hospital bills being paid, a surgery, or even a funeral. And certsinly not to take a less fortunate kid to Disneyland. All of the above which are certainly valid & plausible reasons for a fundraiser or "Go Fund Me" to be established. However, we are asking for this help because we have lost our living situation and have no other place to turn after an unpredictable & devastating tragedy caused us to lose everything we own and most importantly, the place we called home. 

• These funds raised will go for necessities such as much needed new clothes for both my mom & myself, toiletries & hygienic supplies such as soap & deodorant & tothpaste etc., food & water for us both & the dogs & cats, bills which despite all that's happened still need to be paid, gas to commute to work and back & forth while digging through a fire damaged home looking for salvageable things, storage unit bills where salvageable items are being kept, temporary shelter (nothing is free), my mom's much needed medications & doctors & pharmacy co-pays. Even in the process of attempting to proof read this and struggling & swuinting to see. I'm realizing that we both also will need new prescription glasses which were also destroyed. Wow! The list can just go on & on, and I'm certain I will continue to discover even more losses & needs as time progresses. However, the greater expense is that of course, the responsibility & very expensive cost of The disposal & clean-up of the unit & the mess left behind which falls on me, and of course moving expenses involved with looking for a new place or at least buying us a little more time to do so in order to live and start over with needed furniture, appliances, cookware, dishes, bedding, towels, & tv's. All of which will be necessary to once again call a new place, home. Wherever that may be. 

• A sincere thank you from my mom, myself, & our family to everyone who took the time to read our story. A sincere thanks to anyone & everyone for anything no matter how small or big if you are able to contribute and donate to this fundraiser. Every little bit helps & I can assure you is much needed & going to great use. Please however, only donate if you are able to and want to. If you are unable to then just simply keeping us in your thoughts & prayers is always welcomed & appreciated. Oh and of course most importantly, PLEASE SHARE.

• Thank you all for reading. Wish us well & please keep us in your thoughts & prayers. Once again, please continue to share. Together with the help, love & support of caring people like yourselves, my mom & I will get through this for a better tomorrow.