We are a family of six living in Japan: two parents, four daughters aged 3, 6, 12 and 14, and one rather grumpy cat.

Our family came together under circumstances we never expected. My two older daughters previously lived with their mother, but sadly she passed away from ALS. After losing their mum, the girls came to live with us, and our household went from four people to six.

Of course, they are our family and this is their home. We made the space work because that's simply what families do. But our 3LDK apartment was never really chosen with six people in mind, and as all four girls have grown, it has become increasingly clear that we have outgrown it.

At night, all six of us essentially sleep in the same area. A couple of sliding doors separate us and our two younger girls from our two older daughters, but that's about as much privacy as our home allows.

Our 12 and 14 year olds are now at an age where they need more privacy and somewhere quiet to study, relax and simply be teenagers. After everything they have been through, I would particularly love to be able to give them a space that feels like their own. Our younger two are growing quickly too, and it won't be long before they need the same things.

We love being together, but six people living this closely can be a lot. In a home with five females, one dad and a cat who already believes he owns the place, sometimes everyone just needs somewhere they can close a door.

We would like to move into a modestly larger home where our daughters can have more space as they grow up. Homes that would meet our needs are around US$150,000, and we plan to take responsibility for the mortgage and the cost of owning the home ourselves. What we are asking for help with is the down payment.

Our initial goal is $20,000. A larger down payment would make a huge difference to what we need to borrow and, more importantly, make the monthly mortgage payments more manageable for our family over the years ahead. If we are fortunate enough to raise more than our initial goal, the additional money will also go toward the down payment and reduce the amount we need to finance.

We have been saving and plan to put our own money toward the purchase. Our goal isn't to have somebody else buy a home for us, but to increase the down payment enough to reduce what we need to borrow. Even a relatively small reduction in the monthly mortgage makes a meaningful difference to a family budget when you're raising four children.

We are not looking for a luxury home, and we aren't asking other people to buy a house for us. We are hoping for a little help getting over the biggest hurdle between our current situation and a home we can afford to pay for ourselves.

For us, having more space would mean our older daughters having some privacy and somewhere that is truly theirs. It would mean somewhere quiet for homework and studying. It would give the younger girls more room to play and eventually their own space as they get older. It would also mean that six people no longer have to essentially sleep in the same room every night.

More than anything, we would like to give all four girls a stable family home with enough room to grow up in. We can't change some of the circumstances that brought our family to where it is today, but we can try to build something good from here.

We know buying a home is something many families struggle with, and we know there are countless worthy causes people can support. Nobody should feel obligated to give. But if you would like to help our family get a little closer to a home with enough room for all of us, we would be incredibly grateful for any contribution, no matter the size.

If you aren't able to contribute, sharing our campaign would mean just as much. Reaching someone who can help is itself a form of help.

If we're fortunate enough to make this move happen, we'd also like to share updates along the way. From getting the keys to cleaning, repairing and making the new place our own, we'd love for the people who helped us to see what their support helped make possible. We'll be careful to protect our children's privacy and our family's location, but we hope we can share enough of the journey for you to come along with us. Lord knows I love watching videos online of people tidying up their houses.

Thank you for reading our story and for giving our family a little bit of your time.

From the six of us, and the grumpy cat who will undoubtedly claim the best room anyway.