Help Us Secure a New Home & Legal Representation

Dear friends new and old, acquaintances, and community at large:

My name is Maleata Ragin. I am a disabled single mom of 2 teenage boys living in the Philadelphia area. I am a community organizer, activist, volunteer, and holistic wellness practitioner. I can be found at a community event, operating a clothing or food drive, or using my practice of Usui reiki to support the healing of survivors of violence and chronically ill persons. In short, I am often the one doing all I can for and in the community. As of this day, I am calling on my communities far and wide for help. My children and I are living at the whims of cruel, manipulative people. We need to get out of their grasp as soon as possible. Below, I will describe the events that have led to this point.

My children and I need $15,000 to get free.

On November 2, 2017, my mother passed away from Sickle Cell Anemia and COPD. Since my mother’s death, the family members who control her estate have continued to have sole legal control over the house that I have lived in since 2006, as well as my mother’s land in South Carolina. Despite the terms of my mother’s will, my relatives (I will not name them directly, for fear of retaliation) have refused to move forward with adding my name to the necessary documents and transferring the items promised to me. As a result, and with no funds to pay for legal representation, I have received no proceeds from my mother’s estate. I am trapped. My children and I live under a constant threat of retaliation and harm with nowhere to go and no means of salvation. Most recently, an elderly relative who lived with me and my children was removed from my home after a year-long campaign by one of the executors to isolate and mistreat me. This particular person has entered my home and assaulted me, harassed me, financially abused me via the estate, and caused me great emotional harm. My children and I have not been safe in our home since 2017, and can no longer abide here. We need a new home where we cannot be harassed, surveilled, or otherwise reached by the chief executor or anyone they employ to their benefit.

Since my mother passed, the home I reside in, as well as a piece of family land in South Carolina, were left equally to me and another family member, who is the chief executor of my mother’s estate. This relative (I cannot name them directly, for fear of more violence) was also given the childhood home I grew up in, while I remained in our family home in Lansdowne, PA, just outside of my beloved Philadelphia. None of this was a surprise, as my mother had openly discussed her wishes with us. What did come as a surprise was the hell I began to face immediately after my mother’s death. Over the last 5 years, my safety, and mental and physical health have been slowly eroded by the behavior of the chief executor.

My relative has consistently refused to honor the terms of my mother’s will. Because my name isn’t on any ownership documents, I am unable to refinance the current mortgage for a more affordable rate, claim my mortgage payments on my taxes, and apply for any relief/ assistance programs available to me. Like so many people, the pandemic affected my ability to earn income. I was forced to shut down a thriving wellness practice and obtain a traditional job that does not even pay me a living wage. I was once responsible for the care of an elderly relative, who was removed from my care through the weaponization of the court system by the chief executor of my mother’s estate. I was investigated repeatedly, threatened with the removal of my children from my home, and eventually backed into a corner. I had no choice but to comply with the removal of my elderly relative from my home, as I did not appear to be the “best” caregiver per the reporting done by the state.

The removal of my elderly relative was the culmination of the chief executor’s campaign of interpersonal harm against me. In October 2021, they harassed me to the point that I wound up in the emergency room on the verge of a stroke. In November 2021, on Thanksgiving day, the chief executor entered my home and attacked me. Because of my disabilities, I have never been able to properly defend myself from any attacker. The chief executor has physically harmed me before – this time was worse than ever. They filed a police report against me, and I had to deal with Lansdowne Police, who were nothing short of unhelpful. The chief executor’s entry into my home was touted as an effort to ensure my elderly relative’s well-being; I now understand they were laying the groundwork to take our elder out of my home and continue to isolate me and my children.

In October of this year, I received notice that our family home in Lansdowne, was in danger of foreclosure. As I’ve stated before, the house and other portions of my mom’s estate were never transferred to me. Because of this, I am at the whim of the chief executor, who has waited until the absolute last moment to address this issue. As recently as 3 weeks ago, the chief executor declared their intention to rectify the situation with the mortgage lender, but they’ve taken zero action. Because I cannot guess when the foreclosure process might start, my kids and I have to get out of this house as soon as possible.

My fundraising deadline is February 15, 2023. Here’s an itemized list of what my children and I need to get free:

Finally, I want to say that I thank everyone who’s read this statement. It’s been a harrowing 5 years, and I want to be able to walk into 2023 knowing that my kids and I no longer have to withstand the multiple abuses of my violent family members.

Thank you.

Maleata M. Ragin