I'm LEAVING THE MUD! I've HAD IT!

[sarahjc]

So, no,  I'm not LEAVING THE GAME, I lied. I just wanted to get your attention.

What I am doing, is helping build a Military family's home here in Southern California and need a little help.

It's a Habitat for Humanity Project, and I, along with six other Designers are furnishing the home head to toe. These are a good People.  A really nice Family, a Dad who has been to Iraq 3 times, and won't see his house finished because he's headed out for his 4th tour, his wife and two really beautiful little girls. The parents have put 500 hours of Labor into building the house themselves.

We have until the end of March to finish it. We have no Budget and are asking friends and family to help. We can and will take furniture, if you live in So Cal, but really what we need most is funding, and things purchased from our wish list.

If you would like to Donate, or do Donate by making a Purchase at Target, please contact me at sarahcuratolo@yahoo.com.  I will send you a donor letter with a Tax ID and our Family's background so that you can file it for your taxes.

The Target list is under Organizations and the name is Furnishing Hope Morales Family. Even if you only buy a hand towel, or Donate 5 dollars, it's a help and I would greatly appreciate it.

I know funds are tight for everyone right now. I am sure a lot of our players have lost jobs and are struggling themselves. But if your not, and you're doing alright, sometimes giving to someone else can do a lot to even brighten your day and does remarkable things for the other person.

[Ourla]

I wish I could help, but I have a rent check about to bounce.     Good luck!  It's awesome to see people working to help families.

[Malken]

Bye Sarahjc! I don't think we've played much together, but you'll be missed.

Come back to us when you have more time!

Good luck.

[sarahjc]

Wow.. people really don't read the body of posts.. Awesome.

Anyways, I've had three people drop me a line already, and it's been about 20 minutes. You guys Rock! Thanks so much!

[Synthesis]

If they're military, why can't they get into base housing?

[sarahjc]

I can send you some info on that. They are in Camp Pendleton now in shared housing on the base, until these new houses are built. Thier old moble home was home track was closed not long ago, and they were moved out. They have been saving to puchase a house.

27 of the Habitat Homes in the Location that I am working with, will go to military personal. It's a chance for them to actually own a home. And these families don't get a house for free. They have a Morgage and have to actually build the  house with the help of others, they just get it at a very affordable rate.

My part in this is gifting them the furnishings for that home. I'd rather not post every detail on the board here. But if you'd like more info, I will gladly send it by email.

[FuSoYa]

I wish I could help, but I have a rent check about to bounce.     Good luck!  It's awesome to see people working to help families.

Well, it didn't bounce but it's always on the verge... I need to learn better money management.

Brandon

[Shalooonsh]

Done.

Give them my well wishes, Sarah.

(And by the way, don't ever post something like this again if you don't intend to leave.  My heart nearly stopped!)

[Is Friday]

I'm at Camp Pendleton. Is there something other than sending $ I can do?

[Moofassa]

I'd send funds, but my $$'s are canadian and they're at like 3/4 of an american dollar, so when I donate what little I can, i would feel cheap, and strikingly Canadian.

[Is Friday]

I'd send funds, but my $$'s are canadian and they're at like 3/4 of an american dollar, so when I donate what little I can, i would feel cheap, and strikingly Canadian.

Canadian dollar rose higher than American a long time ago (last year?) iirc.

edit: My canadian wife just informed me that this is no longer the case.

[sarahjc]

I'm at Camp Pendleton. Is there something other than sending $ I can do?

If you like you can send me an email and I can pass on some details.

[ibusoe]

I didn't read the original post.

Changing the subject, can't we have like a flag feature similar to Craig's List where we are able to flag posts with misleading titles for removal? 

[Delstro]

I am in San Diego actually. I've been helping Habitat for Humanity on a few occasions down here.

Drop me a line if you want something other than money. I have time and enthusiasm, but not much money.

Delstro12@yahoo.com

[Pale Horse]

I didn't read the original post.

Changing the subject, can't we have like a flag feature similar to Craig's List where we are able to flag posts with misleading titles for removal? 

Read the OP

You just suggested we remove a thread dedicated to helping people, you heartless bastard!   

[sarahjc]

I didn't read the original post.

Changing the subject, can't we have like a flag feature similar to Craig's List where we are able to flag posts with misleading titles for removal? 

The next time I'm selling my internet porn site with a falsely represented topic that says "Hey, I'm New Here." By all means make a secondary complaint. Otherwise, come on man, can't you find better things to flame to up your post count?

If my subject line is really offensive to anyone else, I'll just change it to "Help a really Nice Family" instead.  I just thought it was a clever way to get people to read the actual post. Sorry if I used the trickery of a scorned player, and wasted five whole seconds of your time and click of your mouse.

[jhunter]

I would like to help but I'm busy trying to get my daughter and myself into a place of our own. Oh, and you didn't fool me for a sec Sarahjc, as soon as I saw it was -your- post I was like: *Cough* "Bullshit." *Cough* Cough* It's cool that you guys are doing this though. 

[Shalooonsh]

I didn't read the original post.

Changing the subject, can't we have like a flag feature similar to Craig's List where we are able to flag posts with misleading titles for removal? 

Grow up.

[deviant storm]

I didn't read the original post.

Changing the subject, can't we have like a flag feature similar to Craig's List where we are able to flag posts with misleading titles for removal? 

Grow up.

I'm cool with the original poster's subject title. I'm happy she isn't leaving. I wish there was something I could do to help but things are really, really tight here lately.

[sarahjc]

I just wanted to say WOW, so far. I've had about Seven requests for info and near all of them Donated. You guys are awesome.

I'll rack up a tally near the end and let you all know how much between $$ and Target items you all raised. I can't really express how generous some of you have been so far. Our players just Rock.

 

[Synthesis]

I'm still hung up on why they can't get assistance from the military, or why they're in such a bad state in the first place.

Staff Sergeants in the Marine Corps with dependents make quite a bit of money.  If he's really been deployed to Iraq 4 times, that is a *ton* of tax-free 2x combat pay.

Hell, I had a buddy (a Sergeant) who only went to Iraq once who saved all his extra combat pay from that one deployment...and ended up laying out 20 grand as a down-payment on a condo for himself and his wife (a school teacher...so she wasn't exactly bankrolling the operation) in Chino Hills when he EAS'ed.

Furthermore, any active duty military personnel who have served for more than 181 days are eligible for VA Guaranteed home loans.  In Orange County, CA (where San Juan Capistrano is located), the maximum amount for such a guaranteed loan is $737,500.

Q: What is a VA Guaranteed Home Loan?

A: VA guaranteed loans are made by private lenders, such as banks, savings & loans, or mortgage companies to eligible veterans for the purchase of a home which must be for their own personal occupancy. The guaranty means the lender is protected against loss if you or a later owner fail to repay the loan. The guaranty replaces the protection the lender normally receives by requiring a down payment allowing you to obtain favorable financing terms.

Sure, this depends on you actually being able to get a loan...but since the lender has such a substantial degree of protection on such a loan, it makes it a very easy sell.  Is their credit rating really so bad that they can't get a loan even with a government guaranty? Why can't they get into base housing? It just seems like there is a lot of information that is missing from this picture, because no Staff Sergeant or higher I've ever encountered had a housing sob story worthy of HfH's time and efort.

[sarahjc]

Honestly, I can't really tell you the finiancial situation of the family, except that it's a Dad, Mom and two small girls that applied for this program and were deemed elegible. He is the only one working, supporting the family. I can tell you that they lost there old mobile home, as it was torn down, and were now selected for these homes from a program where you had to apply and be chosen.

They will have to pay a morgage and a down payment and I am sure they will do that with a VA loan. It's not like they are getting a free house.  That isn't the case at all. They are just getting a very affordable, very modest house. And as part of the program, volunteer groups furnish them, which since they lost there old home, is a big help.

It's not some horrible scam. It's just a family in need and I am sure if you wanted all the facts, they are public and you could contact habitat for humanity and see all that. I signed onto the project as part of the ASID (American Society of Intertior Designers) community service team. It is one of several projects I have involved myself in, but this one being the only one where I needed to raise funds this year.

Here is a link to more information on this Project in San Jaun Capistrano. My family is not a Vet family though, they are an active duty family.

http://www.habitatoc.org/

[PerpetualPatriot]

I'm still hung up on why they can't get assistance from the military, or why they're in such a bad state in the first place.

Staff Sergeants in the Marine Corps with dependents make quite a bit of money.  If he's really been deployed to Iraq 4 times, that is a *ton* of tax-free 2x combat pay.

Hell, I had a buddy (a Sergeant) who only went to Iraq once who saved all his extra combat pay from that one deployment...and ended up laying out 20 grand as a down-payment on a condo for himself and his wife (a school teacher...so she wasn't exactly bankrolling the operation) in Chino Hills when he EAS'ed.

Furthermore, any active duty military personnel who have served for more than 181 days are eligible for VA Guaranteed home loans.  In Orange County, CA (where San Juan Capistrano is located), the maximum amount for such a guaranteed loan is $737,500.

Q: What is a VA Guaranteed Home Loan?

A: VA guaranteed loans are made by private lenders, such as banks, savings & loans, or mortgage companies to eligible veterans for the purchase of a home which must be for their own personal occupancy. The guaranty means the lender is protected against loss if you or a later owner fail to repay the loan. The guaranty replaces the protection the lender normally receives by requiring a down payment allowing you to obtain favorable financing terms.

Sure, this depends on you actually being able to get a loan...but since the lender has such a substantial degree of protection on such a loan, it makes it a very easy sell.  Is their credit rating really so bad that they can't get a loan even with a government guaranty? Why can't they get into base housing? It just seems like there is a lot of information that is missing from this picture, because no Staff Sergeant or higher I've ever encountered had a housing sob story worthy of HfH's time and efort.

For once Synthesis and I have an agreement. I extremely appreciate their service to the country, our government and it's people, but our military personnel are extremely well taken care of in all of these regards; financially stable income that is by no means minimum wage, particularly considering the gentlemen's tours into Iraq(again, extremely appreciated), tax-free income, on-base housing with reduced grocery costs, etc, etc. This sounds incredibly self-centered being unwilling to assist, but my taxes as well as everyone else in this forum whom is a working American citizen have paid a small fraction of their dues to our military force. These are assumptions, but either this family has too much pride to endure the hard times with the unshameful government funding they're receiving or has made some poorly informed decisions on how to spend their income. I come from a background where I have clawed for every single dime, enduring very hard times(no doubt others have experienced worse than I), unemployment which in itself is a shameful statistic to be apart of in my opinion, cutting costs to survive among many other tactics to save what little I own -- this family and many of the others you're assisting, again in my opinion, do not deserve this extra funding just to have a 'house' right here and now. I do, however, believe it is a great idea to make them assist in building the property instead of standing back with city, social services and other agencies providing the funding to hire laborers, etc, etc. I wish you luck in your endevors, Sarah, but I'll keep what little of a break I'm actually starting to earn now.

[sarahjc]

I am certainly not twisting anyone's arm. And I totally understand finicial hard times. Not everyone can give. Joe and I really struggle to do it, but it makes me feel good, so I do what I can.

That said,  I don't think these people are selfish and greedy though just because an opportunity came that allowed them to actually own a home and have thier kids raised in a back yard.

Even the furniture we provide them, is not brand new. It's almost all gently used and we've purchased from consignment stores. $4,000 to furnish a whole house from top to bottom, is really nothing, some people spend that on a bed.

Yes, they are getting a discount on this house. But it's a small three bedroom, two bath house that they do have to pay a morgage on, and they have to help build. Nobody is saying.. oh.. here you go.

If the complaint is that projects like habitat for humanity by the nature of them, are designed for selfish, lazy people that are always looking for hand outs, then I really can't defend that. But I'm certainly not gonna make an assumption on how much this guy makes, how much it costs to feed his family of four,  how much he has to put away for his kids college or how much he has to shell out for his new morgage on his new house he helped build.

I can't tell you what sort of hard times his family has come on to get -this- house. But Habitat puts people though a very hard interview process for them to be elegible.  They don't give homes to people with gambling problems and drug use problems, that spend thier days collecting food stamps and not working.


My hope is that one day, he'll maybe help someone else strive for a better life in return, maybe his wife will, maybe his kids will. And that's really all I can get out of giving, and all I would really expect anyone to get out of it. For me that seems to be enough, but it might not be enough for everyone.

[Armaddict]

Props for doing this, Sarahjc.

Myself and my fraternity did one last year

[Moofassa]

I'm afraid im with synth and Peepee, I generally don't donate to any charity which does it's work in the northwest hemisphere. I struggle, badly, and I would rather my money go to a place where they are dying from their struggles, instead of being inconvienienced.

[Rairen]

Pleeeeeeeeenty of charities going around, folks, that suit whatever creed, belief, or values you have.  It always hurts to see folks getting into a pinch about which causes are more 'valuable' than others.  (Just check whomever you donate with.  Make sure that the right amount of money is actually getting to your intended recipients.)  If this endeavor is not for you but if your means allow, I'm sure across the pbase we could come up with a good list of alternatives.

[BuNutzCola]

If you're not in the military, or have extensive military experience, please don't comment on how well people are taken care of without actually knowing. A great picture is painted for the armed forces, and there are some great benefits, but yeah, not all of it is hunky dory.

I am an E-3, about to make E-4. Not an especially high rank, but I modestly find 600 dollars deposited into my bank account every two weeks. (I don't mind talking about my income, it's all public knowledge, rank/time in/allowances, etcetera online.

That's about 1200 dollars a month. Sure my food is covered, and I have a home right? Well..I have a 6.5x3.5x3.0 space to sleep in. That's three extra inches for my toes, and I can't even lay on my side if I wanted to. I have to fit everything I own in a locker just beneath the mattress. I eat on the ship, and luckily I am TAD in the officers wardroom and get to have some of the nicer chow, but the food on board is worse than what I got in the cafeteria back in the early nineties. After a long underway, you choose to eat cereal, because at least with cereal, you can pour the milk in, wait for the bugs to float to the top, scrape them away, and then at least you know you're good to go for the rest of the meal.

Steam got secured on our last underway for four days. Four days of no hot water, in Everett, Washington, during winter. Seeing your breath while in your bed.

so anyhoo, Let's figure my pay is 1200 then, maybe...350 in food? and we'll call my rack a studio (I wish) which here would be around 500 a month

So I'm rollin' in the dough with about 2050 a month, not all that bad really, comparable to civilian jobs I've had.

But in port, I work 50-60 hours a week on average, plus or minus a bit. So we're shooting for about 7.59-9.10 per hour, not bad by any means, but my brother made more than that working for macdonalds in Hawaii.

Underway, it's a whole 'nother story. You work seven days a week, 7000-2300. 16 hours a day.  So a good 112 hours a week. Of course you can add in my 50.00 a month sea pay, 150 a month and we're tax free in the gulf, which ain't too shabby. So we'll bump my pay up to 2865 to compensate. Brings down my hourly wage to a  smooth 5.68 an hour. Living on a ship, busting my ass day in day out. And while that doesn't seem all too bad, remember I'm in a tiny rack, eating shitty food, taking cold ass showers.

But I do enjoy myself. And proud to serve.

Programs that help a service member out are awesome. No one's asking for a hand out, maybe a hand-up. 20 bucks from every paycheck goes to Habitat for Humanity.

Not sure where I meant to go with this post or if it even came out coherent, it's two am and I've been up for three days getting the most ass of my life while on leave here in sunny Florida with my as of yesterday wife (She's reading over the shoulder, so don't think I'm crude)

[Pale Horse]

...not sure where I meant to go with this post or if it even came out coherent, it's two am and I've been up for three days getting the most ass of my life while on leave here in sunny Florida with my as of yesterday wife (She's reading over the shoulder, so don't think I'm crude)

Congratulations!

[sarahjc]

Some people expressed an interest in actually volunteering to help build. Here is a link to the Habitat for Humanity Organge County volunteer site. You can follow the instructions and sign up here.

http://www.habitatoc.org/volunteers/#volunteers

Right now the big build is the one I am working on. So, if you are in the local area and want to help and get your hands dirty, maybe I'll see you there.

[jcarter]

I'm with Synthesis. The military gives a special stipend for housing called basic allowance for housing, which is calculated off of rank, zip code, marital status, and whether or not you have dependents, as well as food money, on top of your base pay. I just don't get how someone in the military at all comes even close to needing assistance from a charity. Not to knock what you're doing or what Homes for Habitat is all about, but my guess is they've either got some really, really bad luck or are pissing away money on something stupid. Is there any sort of articles or anything about this?

Edit: holy thread necromancy, batman

[sarahjc]

You can read all about who is getting the homes and why on the Habitat Website. 

http://www.habitatoc.org

Of course you can get to know the families personally at the construction site, as they are there, hammering nails into their roof.

[Aruven]

Er, I'm in Lemoore, but I can get out a ways. I'm paying a loan off or I'd drop some loving down, but I can get off base and build some shit. Not exactely sure where you are but, I got some folks that would gladly come out. We get good things for volunteer work.

[Sokotra]

I'm with Synthesis. The military gives a special stipend for housing called basic allowance for housing, which is calculated off of rank, zip code, marital status, and whether or not you have dependents, as well as food money, on top of your base pay. I just don't get how someone in the military at all comes even close to needing assistance from a charity. Not to knock what you're doing or what Homes for Habitat is all about, but my guess is they've either got some really, really bad luck or are pissing away money on something stupid. Is there any sort of articles or anything about this?

That basic housing allowance does not amount to much when you have kids and your wife is at home taking care of them and not working - which is perfectly understandable.  The tax-free combat pay helps when you are deployed, but it tends to also make the situation harder when your wife and kids are without you for a year at a time or more.  Also, the pay usually doesn't end up being any more than your average factory worker might make at a small company.  Even if it did.. or if your rank and time in service is high enough to put you in the upper brackets, it is still hard to pay the bills for an entire family by yourself.

I know those benefits and extra pay may seem like a lot to a single person or someone that does not have kids, but it simply does not always pay the bills for a family of 4, 5, or more...

[ibusoe]

I'm surprised this thread is still open.  Motion to lock.

[Shalooonsh]

No need.

Continue if interested in the topic.

[Cowboy]

Motion to lock seconded.  This discussion can be watched on CNN.