Help Andrew, Abby and Aaron Avoid Homelessness

Tragedy Followed By Joy Followed By Extreme Adversity

Hi, my name is Jason Ring,  and I am writing on behalf my children and myself to explain our current, unfortunate situation....

In 2017 myself and my children, Andrew, Abigail and Aaron lost Jennifer my wife and the children's mother to breast cancer after a two year win-less battle. Having known my wife since we were both 17 (almost 30 years), my life was turned completely upside down. I was now a widowed father of a 12 year old, low functioning autistic boy, an 11 year old girl and an 6 year old, high functioning autistic boy. Life was hard and lonely for us all.

Later that year, I met a widow whom had lost her husband three weeks prior to my wife passing away. I lived in California and she lived in Georgia, but we knew right away God had led us to each other. I was excited because Kim was a kindergarten teacher and knew she loved kids...what more could a father of three ask for!? Kim and I were engaged to get married shortly after and had a decision to make; who was going to move?

Kim did not want to take her girls away from their local family nor the support of her church, so I had a major decision to make.

In California I had a job with In Home Support Services in which I worked in health care to take care of my son Andrew who needs 24/7 support. With the children's death benefit through Social Security and my income with IHSS, we lived comfortably while being able to fully meet the daily needs of Andrew and his behavioral issues as well as care for Abby and Aaron. Leaving this job was going to take me out of my comfort zone in that I had cared for Andrew for so long, but Kim believed she would be up for the task as I would go to work outside the home in Georgia after we made the transition. I loved her and wanted to be with her the rest of our lives, so the decision wasn't that difficult to make in the end; Andrew would be in good hands with my wife!

In January 2019, Kim and I were married in California. For six months we lived apart as I allowed the kids to finish out their school year and Kim prepared her new home for our arrival while I got everything ready on my end for the move east. Kim had decided the move would go smoother if I stayed home through the Summer to help Andrew transition because I had enough savings in the bank at the time of the move. Working right away was not necessary and would give Kim time to learn Andrew's quirks through my direction.

Autism (especially in low functioning persons) can be extremely difficult to deal with on a daily basis. Add the stress of change and it can wear you and the child out. Add the stress of new surroundings, new people and, well, it was a major challenge to start.

Unfortunately, the challenge was to daunting for our new family... Due to the extreme stress on the entire family, our first year here in Georgia ended in a no fault divorce; my children and I are required by our divorce settlement to move out from my wife's property.

 

Financial Disaster and Impending Homelessness

With COVID happening earlier this year, jobs were and are scarce. Not having a job, my total income currently is three Social Security death benefit claims for a monthly total of $2424. The median rent price for our area is $1698 a month or twice the amount just for first month's rent and deposit; $3396......and that only counts the cost of getting into a house. We'd also have to pay deposits/hook-up fees on electricity, gas, water, garbage etc. Between now and the time I move out, I will have two checks for a total of $4848 while still having bills to pay while feeding my family! In other words I will be far short of having the minimum to get out of our current, court ordered situation.

The other major problem we have is that when we moved across country to Georgia, we had to get rid of almost 100% of everything we had; we were moving into a fully furnished house! Now we must replace almost an entire household of items…

We no longer have a dinner table with chairs, I will need a bed, dressers, kitchen appliances,  washer, dryer, stove, furniture such as couches, end tables, coffee tables, dishes, silverware, glasses/cups, bathroom stuff like towels and wash cloths, cleaning items like vacuum cleaner, broom, mop, not to mention entertainment electronics like tv's etc. etc. We had to get rid of all this stuff because we were moving into a fully furnished house!

Just imagine everything you have in your house right now.....we (me, Andrew, Abby and Aaron) do not have it and need to replace it.....ALMOST ALL OF IT.

What we thought was going to be a great new life has turned into my children and I on the verge of being homeless with literally nothing but our clothes as we need to move out of my ex-wife’s house and into our own.

Creating a Go Fund Me campaign was a hard decision to make, but coming up with money to find a rental, get in it, turn everything on and still have a whole house to fill with beds at the least, is going to be impossible in two months with only $2424 coming in, no savings and no outside help. Having reached a settlement agreement with Kim in the divorce opened my eyes to just how bad off we were financially. My brother (and even Kim) have stated numerous times that they don't know how I do it with my kids. I am not saying this to brag, but I do it because I love them and there isn't a choice in loving your family; YOU JUST DO IT........I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.....ALL THINGS. Sometimes it's hard to ask for help for myself, but I really need help from others now, more than I ever have before.......because my children need me to for them!

If you could please help out, I would be eternally grateful. I trust that God provides all we need, but I have never had to trust on a level like the one I am facing now. Please pray and consider donating to help keep Andrew, Abby, Aaron (and me) from becoming homeless in less than two months.

Thank you,

Jason A. Ring

 

Monetary Breakdown Summary

Most Money I can save if I spend nothing by the time we have to move:

$4848 (this is obviously unrealistic)

The Minimum Amount it will take to get into a Median priced rental:

$3396

 

How much it will cost to replace a minimum amount of basic need, household items:

Impossible to say, but well over $10,000. Imagine your house burning down and needing to replace everything!

Lastly, we need the funds ASAP as we have a court ordered date to vacate my wife's property per our divorce settlement.  Thank you!