Help Rob and Amanda Rebuild What MOLD Destroyed

These are my friends, Rob, Amanda, Elam, Jonas, & Noble Leigh Gardner. I have known this family for many years. Rob is a science teacher, and Amanda stays home with their three littles. I knew and worked with Amanda at Children's HopeChest back in 2012. Since then, we have bought and sold houses together as their family has grown.

In 2020, they purchased what they thought was the home they would raise their four beautiful children in; they were pregnant with identical twins. After our offer was accepted, they lost one of the twins. Noble Leigh made it into the world safely, but this home was already marked with loss. During the 1st year of living in their home they started experiencing unexplainable health issues. After many doctor visits and costly environmental testing, in 2023 they discovered their home contained toxic mold. Due to their increased health issues, they determined it was best to move out while they figured out what to do with their home. Thankfully, they were able to move into their parents’ basement, but since they had become so mold sensitive, they had to leave EVERYTHING behind in their house. They moved out with a few laundry baskets of clothes & a handful of essentials.

Fast forward to 2024. We sold their beloved home and went on the hunt for a home that hopefully did not contain mold so that they could begin again. After MUCH hunting and doing preliminary testing and inspections, at the end of June we found a home that seemed safe enough to investigate further with intensive, costly testing. We were delighted to learn that this home had very few signs of mold and the little visible water damage was easily mitigated. You would be surprised at how mold hides under sinks and anywhere there is a water source. They closed on this house on July 8th. There was a small mitigation project & detailed cleaning that needed to be done to ensure the home was as safe as possible before they could move in. They started moving things in on August 7th in anticipation of finally being in their home after living in with family for over a year.

As they moved in their new washer by pulling out the seller's washer left behind, they saw the horror of horrors - There was water damage with indications of mold on the baseboard behind the washer. Somehow this portion of baseboard was missed during all 4 inspections and testing. Another inspection & testing took place to confirm THERE IS MOLD in the wall (shared wall between laundry room & primary bedroom), and they now have to mitigate this area. The cost for just the mitigation is $13,000!!! This does not include the cost to rebuild the area. Amanda and Rob will also need to replace items they had to leave behind in the previous mold house. Their current plan is to sleep on air mattresses and use plastic storage furniture.

I have learned so much about MOLD, and quite frankly, it SUCKS! Unlike a house fire, insurance doesn't cover the catastrophic damage it leaves behind. They also have serious health issues due to the mold, with treatment usually not covered by insurance. Amanda and Rob...are... exhausted and are having a hard time seeing their way forward.

Your prayers would be so appreciated. They will also need funds for the Mitigation/Rebuild/Furniture/Dr's Appointments. So much needed on a teacher's salary.

This is where I come in and hopefully you come in. Can you help me give them a resurgence of hope? Can you help me help them not feel alone? Anything will be a blessing.

Thank you for considering this ask. I appreciate every one of you.