A Family in Need of a Home

My name is James Geikie. I'm 37, a stepdad, a musician and a teacher. Last September, my fiance and I purchased a home to fix up for ourselves and her kids. We trusted that the house was only in need of reasonable repairs. So we waived an inspection, and bought it "as is". That was easily one of the biggest mistakes of my life. We had to jump through endless hurdles and finally paid $200,000. That was as much as we could afford, and the seller wouldn't drop the price. All of our savings went into closing costs and paying off previous credit debts to obtain the loan.

Between termite damage, years of neglect due to rampant drug addiction, and 100 years of bad cover-up repair jobs, we have our hands full. The home needs a nearly full electrical overhaul, restructuring, reinsulating, basically it needs to be rebuilt completely from the inside out, and we don't have the means to do so. We have been putting our all into it, and have nearly nothing to show for it.

Back in 2021, my fiance's car was stolen on Halloween, out of her driveway, and totaled in the White Mountains down a ravine. She is still awaiting her restitution, which is only around $1500, but has to wait for other victims of Jonathon Fuller's to be paid first. After the car was totaled, her insurance company mailed the check to the wrong bank and for 7 months, her credit was destroyed by late payments, none of which were her doing. 3 weeks later, right before Thanksgiving, my vehicle was totaled by another driver, who only ended up paying the remaining value of my car, and we were both forced to start over with new car loans, at a point we both had terrible credit.

My fiance had been a caretaker of a property for 10 years, and when the owner sold the property, he gave her a cut of the sale, which was taken up completely by closing costs and the down payment. I had attempted to utilize the Teacher Next Door Program for down-payment assistance, but got denied because my credit score WASN'T HIGH ENOUGH, and I can't apply for retroactive assistance. No government programs were available to us.

I am a 5th grade music and art teacher at a Charter school in Manchester NH, and my fiance is head gardener at an esteemed herb garden/restaurant, and we are struggling to make ends meet at the moment, before considering the need for home repairs. We are trying to fix this place by the end of August so we can not just get the kids a home, but into better schools, with more diverse population, and more opportunities than they are previously being afforded. However, we have been met with opposition from the childrens' biological father, claiming we can't provide ample housing for the kids, and he is creating an issue for his children and us out of spite towards my fiance.

We are trying to raise as much as humanly possible to fix this house as soon as possible. Our initial goal is $25,000, and all donations will go towards electrical work, structural redesign, framing, finishing, basically anything that has to do with rebuilding a home. The original quote we received was for around $35,000 but anything makes a difference.

Thank you, from our family, for your consideration.