Phairchyld Family Car Replacement
We’re a young family of seven who love spending time outdoors, working on community projects together, making art, and exploring the world around us. We are generally a happy, (mentally) thriving family, though we have – and continue to – come out of dire circumstances as we continue to build sustainability for our family and grow as individuals. We have come a long way from rock bottom: from homeless youth/young adults, through abusive relationships world-crashing situations, to reasonably stable parents and budding small business owners. Still, we’re now finding ourselves in a very scary situation where the livelihood we’ve built is on the line, one step from tumbling around us, due to something most people are able to take for granted.
Our five kids came to us through a whirlwind of circumstances that most looking from the outside never see: our oldest two (8 and 7) are my step-daughters, though I’ve been nothing but ‘Dad,’ (their only dad) and their full-time caretaker since toddlerhood, and close with them since birth. Our 8-year-old loves school, Doctor Who, and is an advanced reader. Our 7-year-old enjoys science experiments, art, and using her very vivid imagination.
Shortly after her relationship with the girls’ other parent ended, my partner became involved with a destructive, heavily abusive person. Within that relationship, identical twin boys (now 5 years old) were born. My partner and the twins escaped this relationship when the twins were 6 months old, though not without a heavy impact on the twins' development, which they still deal with daily. I legally adopted our sons in December of 2014. They both love sports, dress-up, and being the class-clown.
On New Year’s Eve of 2012, we found out we were expecting. We had already struggled so much caring for four kids on very low income. We lived in cramped, unfinished space, and often didn’t know how we were going to pay the bills each month. We wanted a child that we had created together, but not any time soon. Still, we couldn’t bear the thought of giving up something that we very much wanted, even though the timing was so far from perfect. We used our New Year’s resolutions to give it our all to create the best situation we could for our family. We got involved with a local program that provides housing assistance for a full year while families get on their feet. The program required us to locate approvable housing, which proved to be difficult. After spending several years before kids each alternating between homelessness, unstable housing, and unstable relationships, neither of us had worthy credit to show for it. After three months of searching, we found a house that was everything we needed, in a sustainable price range, and was being rented out by a private owner who was willing to work with us. The only downfall was that it was located in a metro area 15 miles away from our school district and 26 miles from my partner’s job, where public transportation was largely not accessible. Weighing the options, we decided to take the house. A month later, our son was born. Now 2 years old, he loves Daniel Tiger, dinosaurs, and being a “doctor.” He has done worlds to tie our family together that extra little bit and is adored by all of his siblings.
Because our work/school/commute schedules (on only one vehicle) and finances are completely prohibitive of day care or a second job, I am a stay-at-home dad with our 2-year-old, while spending 4+ hours per day being our family chauffeur. In-between, I'm running our home business, Archaic Studios, that is slowly but surely growing toward a sustainable business that we plan to one day run full-time. Our life is still difficult much of the time, and some months we still barely get by, but we are happy and very grateful none the less. Our house has been a huge blessing: we have adequate space, a large backyard and garden, a nearby park, and a safe neighborhood.
However, after a very trying first year in our new local school district, we decided to bite the bullet and switch the kids back to our old district as "choice" students. They just weren’t receiving the same advanced education programs that our oldest daughter thrives on, as well as the special needs attention that the twins direly needed. For us, it was absolutely necessary and worth the extra travel.
However, the daily commute of 120+ miles takes a major toll on our older-model minivan. This month, our van is on its last legs, requiring 5+ quarts of oil every two weeks, constant power steering refills (stop-leak isn’t helping anymore), and, as per our family mechanic, it is beyond reasonable repair. Our best bet is to try to keep it alive until we come up with a better option. Meanwhile, when it does take a nose-dive (and it will) my partner won't be able to get to work and may have to sacrifice her first semester of college, our kids won't have a way to get to school, and things like going to the grocery store, doctor appointments, and visiting family will become very difficult. We are planning a move back into our kid’s school district over the coming summer - a long-term plan to help with cost and car wear and tear - but we’re certain our vehicle won’t be with us that long, let alone another several weeks. Today we're feeling especially desperate after our van failed to start for the second time in a week, on a brand new battery, installed 4 days ago. We’re terrified it’s reached its end…we have no options left if that is indeed the case.
Reaching our $4,000 goal will allow us to look for a well-maintained, pre-owned minivan with notably lower mileage, maybe slightly better MPGs, and, hopefully, a little more leg room for our growing kids. We sincerely appreciate every penny donated. This is our last resort and only real option left to keep our heads above water and hang on to the important things we've worked so hard to acheive.
