It is well known that America is suffering from an affordable housing crisis as costs for everything from building to food continue to rise. This has left millions of Americans unable to afford basic necessities let alone afford the ever-increasing rental rates. Unfortunately, this is especially true for disabled Americans who often rely solely on disability payments to survive.

For example, the average rent in the US is now $1900/month yet those who rely on social security disability payments to cover their basic needs receive an average of only $1,127/month (1), with SSI benefits being much less (4). This amount is obviously nowhere near enough to cover housing, food, clothing, etc. leaving numerous people struggling to keep a roof over their heads.

Thankfully, there are programs such as the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 that provide affordable housing opportunities to those in need. However, there are over 61 million people living with a disability in the United States yet only 34,298 disabled Americans benefit from Section 811 of the Act (2).

This is due in part to the lack of affordable housing units available for disabled people leading to extremely long wait times. In fact, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, a public housing authority may be forced to close its waiting list when it has more families on the list than can be assisted in the near future (3) leaving few options for affordable housing assistance.

That is where Leslie Trombly saw a dire need and established a trust in her name to provide safe, affordable housing for those with disabilities and today, you can help ensure the trust and those who rely on its support, continue to receive the help they deserve.

Who is Leslie Trombly?

From the time Leslie was a young girl, she always wanted to help people and started early in her life by joining the armed forces at 18 and serving as a nurse, with honor and distinction. After leaving the military, she continued her giving journey and became a pastor. Spending her entire life helping the homeless and downtrodden, many of which suffered depression and drug addiction.

Throughout her life, Leslie helped many people in very difficult life circumstances, all the while, suffering her own life-threatening illnesses with five different cases of cancer. However, she never let her own health concerns get in the way of helping others and on many occasions, opened her own home to those in need.

In 2005, she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and renal failure. Fully aware of how serious her diagnosis was, Leslie did not wish to leave this world without continuing to help those who needed support. Therefore, she established the Leslie Trombly Trust.

The Leslie Trombly Trust provides safe, affordable housing and medical needs to disabled people with rental fees based on a percentage of their disability payments. This allows for all residents of the trust to afford a place to call home while still being able to cover all essential needs.

After Leslie’s passing in 2017, the trust began managing the needs and caring for its residents in honor of Leslie to ensure each and every resident continued to receive the care and support they deserve.

Housing provided through the trust does so much more than provide a physical shelter from the elements. It gives its residents a sense of belonging, a safer living environment, and a community to call home, but it needs your support to continue Leslie’s goals.

The Goal

The pandemic crisis over the last couple of years has caused the Leslie Trombly Trust to incur larger than normal expenses. In fact, last year alone, the trust spent more than $13,000 above what it received. The COVID-19 lockdowns, inflation, and skyrocketing energy costs have had a tremendous toll on the trust and those it cares for, however, raising the cost of living for its residents is not an option to recoup costs.

The people who rely on the trust cannot afford an increase in rental fees, therefore, it is our hope that with your support we can recoup last year's overage expenses and continue to provide for our residents long-term.

100% of your generous donations will go directly towards supporting and maintaining the trust which is actively monitored and audited to ensure all legal precepts are followed.

This will allow us to continue to provide for those that depend on the trust and ensure each and every resident is able to stay in affordable housing without the risk of eviction. Its residents have a myriad of medical issues that make housing requirements extremely difficult, and the trust is solely responsible for keeping the property maintained, repaired, functional, and appropriate to each resident's medical needs.

But, because of Leslie's foresight, the trust is able to handle all of these specialized needs.

The best outcome we could hope for is to receive enough donations to provide for the trust over a longer period of time to allow the markets to recover and explore further ways to support the trust.

To ensure the trust can continue to provide essential care for its residents, the executor has also waived the right to compensation to ensure that the trust serves only those that truly need it. The executor also covers all lawyers and accounting fees personally.

We cannot thank you enough for your support and every donation no matter how big or how small helps us reach our goals and continue to honor Leslie’s memory by helping those in need. Please continue to share this campaign with your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers to ensure those who rely on the care and support of the trust continue to receive the support they need.

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(1) https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/quickfacts/stat_snapshot/2020-10.html

(2) https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/assthsg.html#2009-2020_data

(3) https://www.hud.gov/topics/housing_choice_voucher_program_section_8#hcv04

(4) https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/SSIamts.html