Pierce Family Support

Hello, we are the Pierce's. Jereme, Catherine, Scout, and Orion. Most of you probably know our story but in case you don't here's a very quick recap. We've been together since 2005, married since 2008, and have had way more than our fair share of struggles during that time.

Jereme was born with Cystic Fibrosis which he fought with his original lungs until 2013 when he received his double lung transplant. In 2020 he graduated from WGU (Western Governors University) with a BA in Educational Studies. He was going for his Teaching Certification also but because of COVID and other circumstances beyond his control, he had to put those plans on hold. Now that those issues have been cleared he is going to be starting school back up in January 2022 to work on his Master's and his teaching certification.

Catherine had 2 Emergency Brain Surgeries in 2006/2007 respectively. She was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus ("Water on the brain") at age 23. Most people are diagnosed with this disease before they are 1. She had a Shunt put in to drain the extra cerebral fluid out of her brain. Despite this and having nearly daily headaches she received her BA in Music with a Minor in German at WWU and then went on to complete an Intensive 1-year Teaching Certification and Master's program at SPU (Seattle Pacific University). She taught elementary Music for a year and then transitioned over to substitute work because Jereme was close to transplant. After Jereme's Transplant, he had a really rough patch of rejection that saw him in and out of ICU for 3 months. This took an unbelievable toll on her body and because of this, an underlying condition was exacerbated to the point of becoming a full-blown disease. She was eventually diagnosed with CVID (Common Variable ImmunoDeficiency) which dictates she must have weekly infusions of donor plasma because her body has stopped producing any white blood cells of its own. Unfortunately, there is no cure for this disease only treatment with the infusions, the side effect of the infusions is that she is physically exhausted almost all the time. Thus she has not been able to work at all since 2014. She medically qualifies for SSDI but because she doesn't have enough "work credits" into the system she does not qualify and no Lawyer will help us with that.

So why the GoFundMe? Well, Jereme got laid off from his job back in May (lack of supply meant employee cuts). He's been applying every week for multiple jobs in the area that would pay enough to survive and would be safe with COVID restrictions in place (because of his immunosuppression to not reject his new lungs). Unfortunately, he was unable to get any callbacks. He, fortunately, had Unemployment until now but this week it ended. Jereme was hoping to start school back up in December but is unable to until January. When he starts back up school he'll be able to take out student loans to pay bills and survive until graduation. This leaves December with absolutely no income at this time. Jereme and Catherine do get food stamps and are getting help with back Rent (unpaid since May) and Utilities but still need to be able to pay for the Internet (school is online), Gas, Car Insurance, Food for the Pups, etc.

Jereme, Catherine, Scout, and Orion would greatly appreciate any and all help at this time. They have set the goal high because if they can reach it they can start to help pay the back rent owed, replace falling apart chairs and broken monitors, things that need to be replaced but are put on the back burner for now and held together with duct tape and a prayer.