Help the Olson’s get back on their feet

Hello, I’m Haylee and I’m fundraising for my family.

We are asking for help as we’ve been struggling to feed ourselves on our own for more than two years now, always borrowing from friends and family. Usually, everyone is paid back as promised but this time we can’t pay back the people we’ve borrowed from on our own. What we’re asking for is help to pay back these debts, pay for food for us and our pets, and to pay for bills and necessities such as medication, petrol and hygiene products. We’re extremely grateful for any help at all.

If you’d like to know more about our situation, please keep reading.

First, I’d like to further introduce myself and my family.

We’re a family of five now as my dad passed away in 2015. I’m the second daughter to my mum, Candida. I have two younger brothers, Cooper and Harry, and an older sister, Britnee. And finally, we have 3 dogs and a cat.

Britnee has moved out and become independent. We’ve often had to borrow from her but no longer wish to, in fear of damaging our relationship with her.

My mum is unable to work as she has ongoing mental and physical health issues, with which she has been trying to apply for a disability pension, which is a difficult task, but she will continue to do so.

I am currently looking for work and my brothers are in school - Cooper is homeschooled by my mum and Harry goes to a high school down the road.

Since giving birth to us, mum has always been a stay at home mum. Things became difficult when she and my dad got a divorce a couple years before his passing. A short while after, dad was diagnosed with leukaemia, putting up a six month long fight.

When he passed we were not only grieving but also left to survive on mum’s government payments alone. We managed, only borrowing on some occasions. However, as we got older, we started borrowing more often. When we were beginning to borrow too often, a very generous man, Gary, helped us whenever we needed, never asking for anything in return. He helped with more than food and necessities, he helped to pay for courses, my sister’s first car, and he improved mum’s mental health. We’re incredibly grateful to Gary for everything he did for us, no small thing went unnoticed. Gary passed away in 2020.

Around the same time Gary passed away, Britnee moved out. This altered mum’s payments and we soon began borrowing again. We tried not to borrow too often, until I turned 18 in 2021 and was paid my inheritance. With my inheritance, we were able to pay back the last of what we borrowed and look after ourselves for a time.

I’m 19 now and the inheritance has been used up. It could only help with so much, only help for so long. We’re back to borrowing now, barely managing to pay people back. We’ve also been taking food donations and selling things around the house.

Similar to what happened with Britnee, mum’s pay will change when I start working. I am not yet qualified enough for a high paying job that will help me support my family and myself at the same time. I also don’t drive yet - as I was hoping to pay for the process with my inheritance when we had it - making it more difficult to find a job. Fear of making things worse for my family by starting work has made me dread looking for a job, but I need to and, until I can support my family, I’m asking for help.

As you might imagine, asking for help is not easy and it hasn’t gotten easier since the first time we asked for financial help. We greatly, greatly appreciate any and all help. Thank you for reading.