Help Krista and Izy Move On after Landslide

In late January, a landslide shifted the ground under Krista and Izy’s home of ten years. Fortunately no one was hurt, but their duplex is no longer safe to live in. The good news is that Krista found a new apartment in Izy’s school district, and the two of them will be moving in March.

If you know Krista, you know that she is a single mom and a strong and resourceful woman. She’s working hard to overcome this challenge—but it’s been very stressful for her and Izy. It’s also been quite a financial strain.

Let’s help smooth Krista and Izy’s transition and ease their minds by covering some of their moving costs. Any contribution, large or small, is welcome. If you’d like more details and other ways to help out, read on!

The longer story:

In many ways, the duplex that Krista and Izy called the Sparkle Light House was the perfect home. Lined with windows, it sat on a forested slope in Lake Forest Park filled with huge trees for Izy to climb, yet it was more affordable than many rentals in the Seattle area.

But Krista pressed her landlord for years to address significant flooding in her yard as well as inside the house, only to be met with inaction. Her landlord’s neglect was a major factor in the landslide that rendered the Sparkle Light House so unsafe that the fire department advised Krista against running inside to grab a few belongings before she and Izy fled.

Krista and Izy have been bouncing around from bed to bed for the past month, and Krista has had to take unpaid time off work to complete tasks like meeting city officials who are documenting landslide damage, finding temporary places to stay, and looking for a new home.

Despite Krista’s best efforts, it’s not clear if or when she will be reimbursed by her current landlord for any of her expenses. Her landlord has missed deadline after deadline to do such simple things as repay the last month’s rent she prepaid ten years ago, and now he’s pressuring Krista to sign questionable contracts before he releases any funds. When city officials came out to document the landslide, they found a rat’s nest of building code violations, and at this point it’s not even clear if her landlord will move a fallen tree from an outdoor staircase that would give her the most direct access to her unit while she moves.

This is just a small sample of her landlord’s recent slumlord behavior, and Krista is now looking for an attorney. In the meantime, she’s had to cover major expenses including six weeks of temporary lodging on top of paying rent for her uninhabitable duplex.

Krista always find a way. But in recent weeks she’s been carrying so many worries and shouldering so many costs. We can lighten her load by helping with some of her more basic moving expenses—things like first & last month’s rent, a security deposit, and movers to haul her heaviest belongings up her steep slope.

If you’re strapped for cash, we completely understand! Here are some other ways to help (if you’re interested, please send me a message):

Thank you so much for your support! We're sending hugs to all of you.

Kelly and friends