My name is Everest. I’m 39 years old, an Army veteran (4 years active duty and 4 years in the Reserve), and a self-employed residential remodeler. For most of my career, I’ve been the person people called when they needed help fixing their homes. I’ve always believed that if I had the ability to help someone, I should. Whether it was spending years helping homeowners improve their homes or simply shoveling snow for elderly neighbors who couldn’t do it themselves, I’ve always tried to give more than I take.
Today, I’m asking for help for my own family.
Almost a year ago, our lives changed forever when we lost our daughter to suicide. It is something no parent should ever have to experience, and it forced us to reevaluate everything about our future. We knew we needed a fresh start somewhere we could begin healing together.
After visiting Kentucky, we felt it was the right place to rebuild our lives. We also have family there who can offer support as we start over. My wife and our 17-month-old moved ahead while I stayed behind in New Mexico to prepare our current home to become a rental and help my father with repairs on one of his rental properties, since he has been helping me with mine.
For the past six months, my family and I have spent most of our time living apart. We’ve only been able to see each other during Christmas and a few short trips. Every day that I’m working on my own house is a day I’m not earning my normal income. My work has gone from full-time residential remodeling to mainly maintaining a janitorial contract, reducing my income by roughly $3,000 each month while the work on the house continues.
At the same time, my wife has ongoing medical expenses. She is dealing with uterine fibroids that will require surgery, and while we have insurance, it doesn’t cover everything. Medical bills have continued to arrive while we’re already trying to manage the costs of relocating, maintaining two homes during the transition, and keeping up with everyday expenses.
We’ve done everything we can before asking for help. We’ve sold personal belongings, emptied our savings, canceled unnecessary subscriptions, borrowed from family, applied for assistance where we could, and relied on credit to keep moving forward. We aren’t looking for someone else to solve our lives for us—we’re trying to make it through the final stretch without losing everything we’ve worked so hard to build.
Our goal is to raise up to $35,000, but every contribution, no matter the size, will help move us forward. Our priorities are straightforward:
First: Catch up on essential household bills and prevent further financial hardship.
Second: Finish the repairs on our New Mexico home so it can be rented, creating stable income for our family’s future.
Third: Cover the remaining costs of moving so our family can finally live together again under one roof.
Fourth: Help with my wife’s upcoming medical expenses and the costs insurance doesn’t cover.
Finally: Any additional funds will help reduce the debt we accumulated while surviving this incredibly difficult year, allowing us to rebuild instead of simply trying to stay afloat.
My hope is that within the next three to four months, I can finish the work here, reunite with my wife and our little one, and begin rebuilding our lives together. I don’t expect strangers to carry our burdens, but if you’ve taken the time to read our story, thank you. Whether you choose to donate, share this fundraiser, or simply keep our family in your thoughts, your kindness means more than I can express.
Thank you for giving us hope that, after everything we’ve been through, we can finally move forward together.
My Paypal.me link is: https://paypal.me/EFamilyFund