For those of you who know us, you may already be aware that the house we have been renting for 2 years is not suitable for us to live in. We recently had greywater backing up in the carpeted basement 2 months ago, which was not properly assessed or cleaned . Since then we have discovered that in addition to toxic mold, the water is contaminated, the radon mitigation system went idle sometime this winter, and that there is lead pain and plumbing that was not properly removed when the landlord renovated it himself, 6 years ago. The landlords outlook on these carcinogenic elements is not focused on awareness and prevention, which does not sit well with me, both mentally and physically. The effects of these elements are wreaking havoc on our physical, neurological and emotional health. My goal is to get us out of here asap, and to make sure the landlord complies with the basic requirements set forth by the state to protect tenants from being harmed.
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Greta. I am a stay at home mom for the time-being, caring for our 1 year old son Levon. My daughter Sophia is 15 and splits her time with us, and her father. My fiance Richard is a farrier, and the most solid human being, partner and father I could dream of sharing this life with. We moved into this house with a plan to save money for 5 years and buy a house of our own. Sometime after Levon was born my health started deteriorating. After many visits to doctors, tests, and research, I still couldn't explain why I had the conditions I did. My symptoms flared around the time of the flooding, and landed me in the ER with blood pressure 197/130, elevated hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, vitamin D deficiency, pain, exhaustion, and neurological issues , all of which have never before presented themselves. Although most of my labs were normal, a few were extremely troubling and still are. When I brought this to the homeowners attention, I was devastated by his reply, saying he didn't care, and was certain my illness had nothing to do with the house.
We decided a month ago that we had to move since the house was making us all ill, and the landlord was not addressing any of the issues. I do not want to handle the stress of dealing with staying and withholding rent until he is on point with the health code, for fear it would cause irreversible damage to us. I have decided to call in the Health Department for Inspection, so that he is held accountable for the issues he has denied, and so nobody else has to suffer the damage of his inadequate renovation of this noble property. After finding out he is not in compliance with the State Lead law, I did a home test, and got positives in the windowsills, and will have the state look into the other potential locations of lead hazards. Levon and I are waiting on the results of our blood lead levels, and Richard and Sophia will be checked next week. In an effort to not overwhelm you all with too much information, I have started a blog for anyone interested in hearing our story, and because it is important for me to express what has been the most difficult experience I have ever endured. I will provide a link and updates shortly and hope that it can help others understand, and learn, from my experiences, or at least provide an explanation of why I am living like a refugee from the beautiful place we have made a home in.
Our families live out of state and so our ability to manage this within a month is daunting, not being close to our support system. Richard is working 5-6 days a week shoeing horses to provide for us all and I am currently dealing with packing / mold remediation / cleaning... but mainly.... caring for Levon, without safe water here. I can handle the task of moving, but not the cost of cleaning supplies, the storage unit, moving truck, eating frozen and to go food instead of cooking my infamous healthy meals, and childcare so I can focus on the house for a few hours a day without depleting our budget. Your support would be infinitely appreciated and helpful in accomplishing this goal! I never imagined not being able to manage something like this on our own, but I also never thought a house could ever make me so sick, or cost us so much out of pocket to deal with. We are in need of cleaning supplies, laundry funds, childcare, moving expenses, and lodging for the rainy nights i cant bear to stay and suffer. We also want to buy a month pass for the health center where we shower. Invoices are out and should hopefully cover rent and security for our new home. I need to make sure I stay on my regiment of Medicine and supplements that without I could not get up in the morning. They are all prescribed by my naturopath. And not covered by insurance.
If we get enough money above our current extra exenses and moving costs I would like to hire an environmental testing and mold remediation company which is $450, and get the water properly tested, since the landlord took 3 weeks to test for 5 of 15+ possible contaminants, and we are still wanting to know what is in our water making our skin unbearably painful and rough. It is important to me to know what we are being exposed to, but not as important as getting us into a safe and healthy space ASAP. We hope to relocate to a 3 bedroom immediately, but if not, we will get a short-term rental until we can find the right place. After scrutinizing the budget the goal I have set covers the things we would need to make this happen, and soften the blow of the stormy winds of change we must endure after the hardship of suffering environmental illness.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Please tune in for updates and link to my blog for my detailed account of this experience. We have learned so much through this ordeal, and we cant wait to be at home somewhere where we can breathe easy and eat, drink, and be merry together again. I have never been sick like this in my entire life. I have lived with mold and well water in Vermont for 20 years without any serious reactions until now. This experience has affected our relationship, our ability to optimally parent, and maintain the very responsibilities we pride ourselves on attending to. I wish with all my heart to be on the other side of this in a few weeks, and getting my family back to our happy and healthy best, but this is not something I can manage without hiring some essential help, and provisioning us with the necessities to do so effectively. Thank you for reading this. If you can afford the smallest contribution'to extend to our family at this time, even if it covers a load of laundry, it makes a tremendously positive impact on this daily chaos we are working so hard to break free from. Please feel free to contact me, and stay tuned for updates as I make time to forward them to you.
Gratefully yours,
The Auger / Frost Family
