In Support of The family that keeps loosing

Hi, my name is Paxton, and I'm writing this for my mom. My mom probably wouldn't want me telling everyone all of this. She's the person who normally tries to figure everything out herself, even when she shouldn't have to. But right now, my brother and I are watching her try to handle more than one person can handle, and we need help. We may be losing our home. An eviction could be filed against us within days. My mom is disabled and receives only $1,043 a month in disability income. If we have to leave, she somehow has to come up with a security deposit, first month's rent, moving expenses, utility deposits, storage, a moving truck, and possibly a hotel if we don't have somewhere to go right away. Winter is coming, and she's scared about where we're going to live. I'm scared too. Our housing situation has already affected our lives and our school. My brother and I have been receiving transportation to our school because of our family's housing circumstances, even though we currently live about 25 minutes away. That transportation ends October 9. Starting October 10, my mom will have to drive us to and from school every day if we want to stay at the school we're already attending. She wants us to stay because she doesn't want us to lose our school, friends, sports, and everything familiar to us while we're already dealing with uncertainty about where we're going to live. But now her vehicle is also having suspension and transmission problems. Between repairs and the additional gas it will take to get us back and forth every day, that's another expense she doesn't know how she's going to cover.

My mom is also trying to challenge the wrongful termination of her Section 8 housing assistance. She had appealed the termination and was granted a hearing. The night before the hearing, I suffered a severe concussion. My mom was up with me through the night and missed the hearing because she was so tired from her own fears and panic attacks worried about me. She contacted the housing authority afterward and provided documentation about what happened, but her housing assistance was ultimately terminated. She has been going through her records and believes there are serious questions about whether the required procedures were properly followed. She's trying to find an attorney who can review everything and determine whether the termination can be challenged and whether her housing assistance can be reinstated.

There is a much bigger story behind how our family got here. My brother and I watched our mom in a relationship that turned into what we all thought was a real marriage. Instead, it turned into what my mom believes was a scam involving a fraudulent marriage, financial exploitation, and domestic abuse, and our family ended up losing almost everything. My mom had received a $105,000 medical-malpractice settlement, and because of him, less than six months, it was gone. We watched the security we thought our family finally had disappear right out from under our feet. That money could have changed our lives and given us stability, and instead we were left trying to pick up the pieces. My mom is still trying to find an attorney willing to look at the evidence and determine exactly what happened and what can legally be done. There was also a domestic-violence case that my mom continues to dispute. I don't want to pretend that I can explain every legal detail because I can't. My mom has photographs, videos, recordings, court documents, emails, and other records that she wants an attorney to review. What I can tell you is what happened to us. My mom spent 33 days in jail, and for 33 days we didn't have our mom at home. Our baseball coach stepped in and took care of us because we didn't have anyone else who could do it. My mom eventually pled guilty after the attorney she hired advised her that doing so was how she could get out of jail. She was in severe physical pain, emotionally exhausted, and wanted to come home to us. She has continued trying to get legal help regarding everything that happened. I'm explaining this because it's part of what happened to our family and how we ended up here today, not because we're raising money to pay for the defense of criminal charges. Even after all of that, my mom didn't just give up. She's disabled, but she started her own small cleaning and organizing business because she wanted to make more money and take care of us instead of trying to survive only on her disability check. I've watched her work even when she's hurting. She spent about seven weeks working on one major project and is now involved in a payment dispute over approximately $16,000 that she believes she is owed after problems involving a subcontractor caused the project to be canceled. That money could have made an enormous difference for our family right now. Instead, we're facing the possibility of losing our home.

That's why I'm asking for help for my mom, my brother, and our family. Our goal is $10,000 to help get us safely through this housing emergency. Money raised will go toward a security deposit and first month's rent, moving expenses and a moving truck, temporary hotel stays if we don't have somewhere to go right away, storage, utility deposits, necessary repairs to my mom's vehicle, gas so we can keep getting to school, basic necessities while we're moving, and housing-related and civil legal assistance, including getting advice about the Section 8 termination and our current housing situation. Donations are not being requested to pay for the defense of criminal charges. There's also another way someone could help us that doesn't cost anything. My mom needs an attorney. If an Illinois housing attorney, legal-aid attorney, civil attorney, housing advocate, or someone who knows one happens to read this, please reach out. My mom has kept records of what has happened. She isn't asking people online to decide who's right or wrong. She wants qualified people to look at her documentation and tell her what can actually be done.

If you can donate anything, thank you. If you can't donate, please share this. Maybe it reaches someone with a rental available. Maybe it reaches an attorney who knows what to do. Maybe it reaches a housing advocate. Maybe enough people giving a little bit will keep us from having nowhere to go.

My mom has spent a long time fighting for us.

Now my brother and I are asking for some help fighting for her.