In Support of Moving Home for Mom
In a nutshell: My mother (Jane) in Michigan has recently been diagnosed with dementia/neurocognitive disorder and can no longer safely live alone. We are preparing to move from Alabama back home to Michigan within the next 4–6 weeks to help with her home and this transition. This is happening much faster than we were financially prepared for, so we are working hard to raise what we need for moving costs, household expenses, and getting Mom’s home ready. We are taking on as much local, remote, and online work as possible and are also working on transitioning the Alabama portion of our business.
Most importantly: We are asking for prayers — for Mom, for wisdom and provision, for protection, and for all of these moving pieces to come together as smoothly as possible. ❤️
Over the past week, our lives have changed very quickly.
Mom has been through multiple hospital and rehabilitation stays following a serious fall, and she has now been diagnosed with dementia/neurocognitive disorder. It has become clear that she can no longer safely live independently.
Because of this, we are preparing to leave Alabama and move back home to Michigan, most likely within the next 4–6 weeks.
Michigan is where we both grew up and where much of our family still lives, so in many ways this is a move home. But it is happening much sooner — and under very different circumstances — than we ever anticipated.
Why we need help: Financially, we simply were not prepared to make an interstate move this quickly.
We still have our normal September household expenses here in Alabama while simultaneously preparing for the cost of moving, traveling to Michigan, getting ourselves established there, taking on the mortgage and household expenses shortly after we arrive, and beginning the enormous job of dealing with Mom’s home.
Her house will need a great deal of sorting, cleaning, organizing, donating, selling, discarding, and general preparation before we can truly get settled.
Thankfully, organizing, downsizing, packing, and helping people through major household transitions is exactly what we do professionally through Smart Living Skills, so we have the experience and skills to handle much of this work ourselves.
But there will still be significant expenses.
Our $10,000 goal: This is not simply the cost of moving from Alabama to Michigan. The goal is intended to help us bridge this entire transition and get through the first critical weeks after we arrive.
Funds may help cover:
- Our remaining September household expenses in Alabama
- Moving truck, trailer, and transportation expenses
- Professional help loading and unloading heavier belongings
- Gas for the trip to Michigan
- Food and groceries during the transition
- Hotel expenses during travel if needed
- Mortgage and household expenses shortly after we arrive
- Cleaning and organizing supplies for Mom’s house
- Trash removal, disposal, and dump fees
- Help with heavier items during the house cleanout
- The process of combining two households
- Unexpected expenses that come with a major interstate move and family transition
We are doing everything we can to contribute ourselves: We want to make something very clear — we are absolutely willing to work.
We are taking on as much professional organizing, decluttering, packing, unpacking, downsizing, photo organizing, and household-transition work as we reasonably can during the weeks we have left in Alabama.
We are also actively looking for remote and online work — both before AND after we move.
That work will be especially important once we arrive in Michigan because it will take time to establish Smart Living Skills in a new market, build new professional relationships, and develop a local client base.
Some of the things we can help with remotely include:
- Virtual organizing and decluttering
- Accountability and organizing sessions
- Photo and video editing
- Website creation and website updates
- Marketing materials for businesses
- Business cards, brochures, flyers, and promotional materials
- Digital organizing
- Online selling and listing assistance
- Photo and keepsake organizing
- Creative and virtual administrative projects
We can even work with physical photographs through the mail, helping sort and organize collections, prepare photos for scanning, plan albums, and organize family keepsakes.
Remote work can continue after our move: None of this work has to stop when we leave Alabama. We can work remotely with individuals and businesses anywhere, so projects and referrals that come in now — or even months after we arrive in Michigan — can continue helping us while we establish ourselves there.
Transitioning Smart Living Skills in Alabama: We are also working on transitioning the Alabama portion of Smart Living Skills to another trusted professional organizer, including current and future project opportunities, qualified leads, and the referral relationships we have spent years building here.
Our goal is to make sure the people who have trusted us with their homes continue to have someone reliable to call while also making this business transition as responsibly as possible.
Selling what we can: We are also selling belongings we don’t need to take with us, working on getting more items listed online, and using every skill and resource available to generate as much of the money ourselves as possible.
There are MANY ways you can help us: Financial support is deeply appreciated, but donating money is far from the only way you can help.
🙏 Pray for us: This is truly one of the most important things you can do. Please pray for Mom, for wisdom for our family, for provision and protection, for work opportunities, safe travel, and for all of the pieces of this transition to come together.
🎁 Help with a specific need or gift card: Gas, groceries, household supplies, moving expenses, and travel will all be very real needs during the coming weeks. If you prefer helping with something specific, please feel free to let us know or use a gift card. Doordash, walmart, practical things like that we will definitely be happy to have.
💻 Hire us for local or remote work: We are continuing to work locally in the Birmingham area while our schedule allows, and we can continue remote work from anywhere both before and after we move.
📣 Refer us: If you know someone who needs professional organizing, packing, downsizing, virtual organizing, photo organizing, website help, marketing materials, photo or video editing, online selling assistance, or another service we offer, please send them our way.
⭐ Leave Smart Living Skills a Google review: If we have worked with you before, a review can help strengthen our business as we prepare to establish Smart Living Skills in an entirely new community.
If we haven't worked with you, feel free to leave a character review!
click here to leave a FIVE STAR review: https://g.page/r/CQ0cxNI8jrA2EBM/review
If we haven't worked with you, feel free to leave a character review!
click here to leave a FIVE STAR review: https://g.page/r/CQ0cxNI8jrA2EBM/review
🌐 Share the Smart Living Skills website: Sharing our business with someone who could use our services may lead to a project or referral now or long after we arrive in Michigan.
click here to share our website: https://smartlivingskills.com/
click here to share our website: https://smartlivingskills.com/
📘 Follow and share the Smart Living Skills Facebook page: Following the page, interacting with our work, sharing posts, and inviting others to follow can introduce our business to people we might otherwise never reach — especially if you happen to know people in Michigan.
click here to follow and share the FB page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php
click here to follow and share the FB page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php
👥 Invite others to follow Smart Living Skills: If you already follow our business, inviting friends, family, or business owners who might be interested in our services costs nothing and could make a real difference as we rebuild our network in Michigan.
💰 Purchase or share my new digital guide: Turn Your Clutter Into Cash — The 2026 Guide to Selling Your Stuff Online. If you're decluttering or have things around the house you've been meaning to sell, this guide walks you through what’s worth selling, where to sell it, pricing, photos, listings, avoiding scams, and more. Even if you don't need it yourself, sharing it with someone who might is a wonderful way to support us. $21.99 instant digital download. View the guide & purchase a copy
💰 Purchase or share my new digital guide: Turn Your Clutter Into Cash — The 2026 Guide to Selling Your Stuff Online. If you're decluttering or have things around the house you've been meaning to sell, this guide walks you through what’s worth selling, where to sell it, pricing, photos, listings, avoiding scams, and more. Even if you don't need it yourself, sharing it with someone who might is a wonderful way to support us. $21.99 instant digital download. View the guide & purchase a copy
🛍️ Shop or share what we’re selling: We are working on selling personal belongings we won’t be taking with us, items from our Poshmark closet, and other things that can help generate money toward the move.
click here to shop my poshmark closet: https://poshmark.com/closet/serajane74
click here to shop my poshmark closet: https://poshmark.com/closet/serajane74
💎 Shop or share our client’s jewelry collection: We are helping a longtime client sell pieces from her jewelry collection, and we earn a commission when those pieces sell. We are working to get as much photographed and listed as possible. Purchasing something — or simply sharing the collection with someone who may be interested — helps us generate income that can continue even after we move.
link will be placed here as soon as it is available. If interested in seeing the collection via text or email, please send me a message.
link will be placed here as soon as it is available. If interested in seeing the collection via text or email, please send me a message.
📲 Share this SupportNow page: Sometimes simply getting our story in front of the right person can lead to a prayer, donation, job, referral, purchase, business connection, or opportunity we never would have found otherwise.
Above everything else, please pray for us: Please pray for Mom and everything she is facing. Pray for wisdom for our family as decisions are made. Pray for financial provision. Pray for work to continue coming in at exactly the right times. Pray for protection as we prepare, travel, and move. Pray for the right people, resources, opportunities, and connections to show up when we need them.
And please pray that somehow all of these moving pieces come together as smoothly as possible.
We are doing everything we know how to do to contribute toward this ourselves — working, selling things we don’t need, taking remote projects, transitioning part of the business, cutting expenses, and using the skills and resources we already have.
We simply have a lot of expenses coming at us all at once and not much time to prepare for them.
Michigan has always been home to us in an important way, and while we certainly didn’t expect to make this move under circumstances like these, we are grateful that we have somewhere to go, that we can be closer to family, and that we have skills we can use to work our way through this transition.
Thank you to everyone who has already prayed for us, checked on us, encouraged us, hired us, referred work to us, shared our business, purchased from us, or helped us financially.
Every prayer, donation, job, referral, review, purchase, share, connection, and act of support helps get us a little closer to home. ❤️
Updates
Keep up to date as needs change.
Oct 02, 2026
Starting Over: An Update From Michigan
It’s been almost two weeks since I made it safely to Michigan, and ...
Sep 09, 2026
Important Update: Our Move Is Becoming More Urgent
I wanted to share an update because our move to Michigan is becomin...
Sep 03, 2026
An Update From Me
This has been an incredibly tumultuous week, and I wanted to share ...
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