Makala sees a black bear
This is an update on the family I'm trying to help. Please see this diary for the full story. For the record, I don't really like this title because I see Chelsie, Terrance, Aaron and Makala as a family, plain and simple. A family that my son and I had a great time hanging out with today. But they are homeless and need help, so we're going to go with it.
Update 5/24/2015:
I helped the family move into an extended stay hotel today. It is a little more expensive but they have a kitchen and it is much nicer. Their previous motel was the worst that I've ever encountered and I don't believe the children were truly safe there.
I also took them shopping at Costco. Anyone who has been there knows that you pretty much have to buy a lot of food. We also bought some clothes and a couple of toys for the children. I'm not using fundraiser money for all of that. Some of the money went to renewing their membership and a nice folding cart which should come in handy. I have decided to pay half of the hotel stay this week. At this point, all of the funds from the fundraiser have been used and we can no longer use our personal money to support them. They understand that. For that reason I am going to raise the goal. The new goal would support them for another week. I know that staying at a hotel/motel is not a sustainable way to live, but I'm doing my best to see that they don't have to go back to an emergency shelter. If they should not need all of the money raised (assuming we raise any more), I will donate the rest to a local food pantry.
The food should easily last them until they receive SNAP, and should even continue to supplement that for a little while longer. Housing is another story. Tuesday will be a busy day for them. For a variety of reasons they want to stay in Washington County. The organization they are working for currently say they will only help for another county. So they have their work cut out for them. I think the realistic solution is for them to get a spot at a long-term shelter until they can sort all of that out. I will continue to help as much as I can on that front.
Thank you all for your generosity!
Here is the link to the GoFundMe page I set up for their family. See below the fold for the story and more zoo pics.
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