Support Josh and Kristina's Family in Crisis

On Wednesday, November 6th, 2024, my children's mother passed away unexpectedly. My wife and I left our 15-year-old with good friends and traveled from Southern Missouri to Eastern Pennsylvania to care for them. When we arrived, we found that the trailer home they lived in was in terrible condition with a leaking hot water heater that had made the floor soft and unsafe. The front door would not close properly, and the cat urine smell permeated the air so badly that breathing was difficult. There was cat feces and urine on the floors and mattresses. Trash, cigarette butts, debris, and cat hair littered the floors and counters, and grease covered the floors, appliances, and cupboards. The kitchen sink was partially stopped up, and there were mouse droppings on the floors, counters, in the drawers, and on the silverware. Sections of the flooring were coming up or missing, and there were 55-gallon trash bags full of trash in the kitchen and bedrooms. Clothes covered the floors. Two of the interior doors are broken, one with only one hinge attached. Boxes of expired food were stacked in the living room and filled some of the cupboards. The couch, kitchen table, coffee table, and small kitchen island were covered with food, trash, and random things, leaving no space to set anything down. In the bathroom, we discovered toiletries filled one of the double sink bowls and were strewn on the floor with more clothes and cleaning supplies, and the counter was filthy. There is mold and mildew on the walls and ceiling, and the shower was caked in grime, turning it a sickly brown color. The bathroom sink drains very slowly, and the shower head is covered in grime with a thick layer of soap scum and buildup on the shower doors and surround. There was broken furniture throughout the house with stacks of medical supplies and oxygen tanks laying about. Cupboard doors were missing in the bathroom, and there are broken mirrors in one of the bedrooms that make up a closet door. There was a box with several bags of used cat litter sitting against the wall next to store-bought water bottles waiting for consumption. Outlet and light switch covers are missing throughout the trailer, and sections of the ceiling are starting to sag. The walls and ceilings are covered with dirt and stains, with cat hair and cobwebs in every direction you look. The small front porch steps are missing boards, and of the boards that are on them, some are no longer secured, and rot is visible. The small front porch sags and is unlevel in disrepair. Most of the windows are damaged in one way or another. The window treatments are filthy, and the buildup of dust and dirt is visible from a distance and they need to be replaced. Both of the bedrooms are carpeted and hold the smell of cat urine, as do the warped and disintegrating floors. It goes on and on and on.

The children have been removed from the environment into safe and sanitary living conditions with other family members as my wife and I continue to work tirelessly to clean and sanitize everything, but that is what takes up our evenings and during non-business hours.

I found out after we arrived that their mom was very sick and had been for a long time. She was a wonderful woman and simply was not able to keep up with things. I only wish she had called on me sooner. I had no idea what was going on. I am devastated...we all are.

Our daytime hours are spent working tirelessly doing all the other important things that need to be done. We are in contact with the school and reaching out to local assistance groups. We are contacting churches. We are reaching out to prayer groups across the country. We are setting up counseling for everyone to help them through this devastating loss. We are trying to find new furniture to replace everything that is broken and replace 3 ruined mattresses. We are trying to find clothes for two of the 3 children, ages 16 (girl), and 17 (boy), including socks, underwear, shirts, pants, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, and shoes. We need coats and boots, hats, and gloves for the brutal Pennsylvania winters, which have already started. We are sourcing building supplies to begin repairs and mold remediation, and a friend of the family who flips trailers is going to advise us through the details of the repairs, which we are assured are very possible.

My wife will be heading back to Missouri to begin packing up our belongings so that we can relocate to Pennsylvania to be with them. I will be staying here in Pennsylvania to continue working on getting the trailer livable, and love on them, and work on everything else as life continues for us all. We don't want to move them south because their support system is here, and we have been advised that at this very difficult time in their lives, it would be detrimental to pull them from the support systems that they have in school, friends, and my son's work and coworkers. We need help with the moving expenses, and our 2 vehicles are in need of mechanical work and tires to be safe as the snow has already begun to fall. We do not have a vehicle large enough so soon we will need to get a minivan or SUV to be able to transport everyone to work, school events, extracurricular activities, and Dr's and counseling appointments, etc.

We need help getting our two vehicles registered and insured once we move to Pennsylvania. We'll need gas money for my wife's return trip to Missouri and back again. We need a $500 deposit to have the electric put into my name and possibly the propane that is needed for the stove, but as of right now, I am unsure about the propane. We may need to rent a pull-behind trailer to hook up to our old truck to trailer our car to Pennsylvania. We will need a down payment at the trailer park to switch the lease over to me. We need basically an entire house worth of goods from 2 sleeper sofas and 3 new mattresses as we have 6 people that will be living here. It will be me, my wife, son (age 25), Son (age 17), Daughter (age 16), and Son (age 15). We'll need pots and pans and at least 3 dressers. We also need a large size clothes washer and dryer as the washing machine has stopped working, and the dryer is old and very inefficient. All three kids that were living here will need new pillows and sheet sets. We need mouse traps and bug bombs to take care of the fleas that have infested the house. The pets in the home are infested with fleas with scabs covering their bodies and we suspect they have urinary tract infections and will need veterinary care. I'm sure there are many other costs, and financial needs as well that I have not accounted for, but as time goes on, I'm sure they will pop up.

I am disabled and on a fixed income with a rare condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and my wife is a disabled Army Veteran. We live paycheck to paycheck and are in no way prepared for this kind of disaster. We are selling all of our belongings in Missouri that we don't need to fund as much of this as possible. You could liken it to having no savings and suddenly having to buy everything that is needed for 3 teenagers, secure and set up housing, and move nearly 1000 miles all at the same time.

Financial donations of any size are much appreciated, and we will be blessed to receive gift cards (Walmart would be ideal), and second-hand furniture and clothing would be a major blessing.

I want to thank everyone who is able to help, and know that we will say a prayer for each and every one of you. Those that cannot help financially or otherwise, we would be honored if you would keep us in your prayers. We serve a mighty God and know that He will move mountains for His children.

Even if you can't help at this time, please share, share, share this GoFundMe across your social media and to your phone contacts and encourage your contacts to continue to share with others so as many people see this as possible, please! It will only take a moment of your time, and it may make all the difference in the world to 4 kids and the parents that love them.

Any donations over and above what we need will be forwarded on to other families in need, and we will be in contact with local schools and outreach organizations to make sure that everything is put to good use in the surrounding communities. We are even considering starting a non profit to continue to help children that desperately need it in our local and surrounding communities, and maybe in time we will be able to coordinate with other organizations and help children all across the United States. Updates to come.

We have set up a Facebook page as well.

https://www.facebook.com/family.in.need.of.help.2024

We have set up a Venmo as well if you would prefer to donate that way. @Kristina-Williams-287

Any material donations such as clothes, household goods, furniture, gift cards, etc. can be sent to:

P.O. Box 84

Warren PA

16365

Mens (25)

Winter coat medium/large

Shoes/boots 10

Pants 32/32

Shirt large

Sweatshirts medium/large

Underwear large

Socks 10

Mens (17)

Winter coat XL

Shoes/boots he is very hard to fit due to wide feet

Pants 38/32

Shirt large/XL

Sweatshirts XL

Underwear XL boxers

Socks 12

Juniors (16)

Winter coat medium

Shoes/boots 8

Shirt small-medium

Pants/leggings small

Sweat pants medium

Underwear small

Socks 8

Hoodies medium

Mens (15)

Winter coat large

Shoes/boots 11

Pants 30/32

Shirt large

Sweatshirts large

Underwear medium

Socks 10

We will do our best to respond to all questions and comments. Or time is very limited and we are only two parents with a mountain of work to do.

Many blessings and thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.

Josh and Kristina