Help Erica Move Home for Family Support

Help us bring Erica, a Disabled Veteran home. (Financial breakdown ⤵️)

This campaign is to raise the money needed to move Erica and her family back home to Georgia. With the help of her friends and family, we can pack her house together and help her get home but funding is limited due to her being fully disabled, partially wheelchair bound. We have estimated that at 670 miles one way trip, it will cost roughly $900 in gas as it will take around 2-3 trips. Renting a U-Haul one way with a tow dolly to tow her truck with her wheelchair lift was not included in the $2200 estimate. Gas was included in the U-Haul estimate. We did not include moving boxes or moving supplies as the family has been collecting boxes from local stores and facebook marketplace. If the tow dolly is unaffordable to rent, we will have two vehicles (U-Haul and Erica’s truck) that will need to be drove from Virginia (23701) to Georgia (30125). The family has already planned out who will be helping to pack, load the furniture and boxes, drive the U-Haul and unload the U-Haul for Erica and her spouse.

Here is Erica's story⬇️: 

Hi everyone!

    My name is Eric Smith. I live in a small town in Georgia called Cedartown, where the sun is always shining and friendly faces are always smiling!

    Back in 2010, I met my new neighbors who purchased the property/ farm across the field from me. A beautiful family of five; A grandfather, grandmother, great grandmother and two little grandkids being raised by their grandparents. 

    I became very close to Erica, along with my dad and my family. Erica is the oldest grandchild of the two grandkids. We grew up together and became family.

• Erica lost her father in 2019, pushing her to join the Navy to make her father proud. She wanted to make her grandparents proud, her family and friends. She wanted to make sure her family would NEVER struggle for anything.
  
• On September 9th, 2019 at 3:15pm, I said goodbye to my best friend, my neighbor, my sister and my whole world. Erica left her home town of Cedartown GA and went off to serve our country. Erica became a Parachute Rigger: Last to let you down. She worked the flight line and enjoyed every moment of her time in the Navy. While active duty, Erica got married and now has her own little family that she always puts before herself.
  
• In November of 2022, Erica was due for a routine physical exam to continue working on the flight line. While taking her eye exam portion, it was found she had no peripheral vision. She was sent to the Naval hospital for further testing. A week later, it was found that Erica has Ocular Melanoma in her right eye, followed by a developmental venous anomaly in the left frontal lobe of her brain. Upon further examination and testing, Erica was found to be 100% disabled, mentally and physically.
•  On January 13th, Erica was medically discharged under honorable conditions; leaving Erica, her spouse and service dog with no income as they waited on her VA Disability claim to go through.

As of July 2024, Erica is now a 100% Permanent and Total Golf War Combat Veteran with special compensation awarded. She is currently residing in Virginia (23701) over 600 miles away from home (30125). 

    With her medical conditions rapidly getting worse and her health declining, she is in need of family/friends support. Her spouse is now her legal caregiver, registered by Veterans Affairs (the VA). She has no family within 674 miles of her. Erica and her spouse ( her service dog passed away in June- 5 years to the day she lost her father) are now desperately trying to move back home to Georgia.

    Bringing Erica and her family home will give her more mental support by being close to her family and friends again. She will have her grandparents, her sisters, her newborn niece she has not yet to meet, her adopted mom and dad, her adopted grandmother, her 2 best friends of over 10 years and myself. I miss her and I can’t wait until I can give her that welcome home my sailor hug that I know she needs.

    Brining Erica and her little family back home to us will bring joy and love and piece back to our family and our home town. Erica is currently is trying to sell her home in Virginia so she can purchase a home here in Georgia. She will be able to use the equity she has built up in her current home to secure a new home here in GA.

    The problem Erica is having right now is she won’t ask for help. She will help anyone and everyone but when it comes to herself she will go without. Erica was the founder of a non profit called Arieshaswings Inc., being the selfless person she is until the city she lives in made it illegal to feed or interact with the homeless community; breaking Erica’s heart and taking away her dream to start a national chain for helping those in need. In order for Erica and her family to move home, they must pack up their home in Virginia so their agent can list their house.

• Erica’s family and friends (including myself) have all pitched in to get her a safe place to store her furniture and house hold items. We also got her a medium sized camper that is handicapped equip. It is currently parked in a safe and quiet location very close to her adopted mom, dad, grandma and her grandparents. We have made sure that she has a safe place to live until she finds her forever home here in GA while going through the selling and buying process. Erica's agent projects the house to be listed in the beginning of August, giving her a smaller time frame to move.
  

Please help me bring HOME a United States Navy Veteran, as not all veterans come home Thank you for taking the time to read Erica’s story❤️