Together with my husband, we are raising four young children in central Minnesota. We never imagined that one day our greatest goal would simply be finding a home where our family could feel safe, healthy, and able to thrive.
Our Family's Journey
My husband and I met at church in 2021 and were married in 2022. At the time, I was a single mother raising my daughter, and my husband was building a life of his own. Like many young couples, we dreamed of creating a stable home centered on faith, family, and the future we hoped to build together.
Before our marriage, I began experiencing unexplained health issues. What started as episodes of dizziness and low blood pressure gradually turned into a growing list of symptoms that doctors struggled to explain. Despite seeking medical care and following treatment recommendations, my health continued to decline.
After we were married, we purchased a home and settled into what we believed would be the place where our family would grow. The house appeared beautiful and well-maintained. There was no obvious reason to suspect anything was wrong.
A Turning Point
As the years passed, however, health challenges seemed to affect nearly every member of our family.
Our oldest daughter developed epilepsy and severe constipation with no clear explanation. Watching your child experience seizures is something no parent is prepared for. The fear and uncertainty that followed those episodes are difficult to put into words.
Later, another daughter began suffering from chronic gastrointestinal pain, persistent diarrhea, and sleep disturbances, including night terrors. Fourteen months later, we welcomed our twin boys into the world during an unexpected roadside birth that, by God's grace, ended safely for everyone involved. As they grew, however, both boys experienced significant digestive issues and prolonged vomiting that continued for many months.
At the same time, my husband began struggling with chronic headaches while working from home. My own health continued to deteriorate. I experienced heart palpitations, chest pain, severe fatigue, swelling, migraines, joint pain, breathing difficulties, and many other symptoms that often left me wondering how I would continue caring for our children each day.
Over the years, we searched tirelessly for answers.
We visited doctors, specialists, and practitioners. We changed our diets and eliminated foods we thought might be contributing to our health struggles. We invested in supplements, therapies, wellness programs, and equipment intended to support healing. We traveled across the country seeking treatment and guidance. We prayed constantly and asked God for wisdom and direction.
Despite all of these efforts, meaningful improvement remained out of reach.
One of the most difficult chapters came when I underwent an emergency appendectomy. During surgery, doctors unexpectedly discovered a neuroendocrine tumor. While the tumor was successfully removed, the experience was frightening and emotionally overwhelming, especially while caring for four young children.
There were many days filled with tears, uncertainty, exhaustion, and financial strain. We often felt like we were doing everything we could think of and still coming up empty-handed. Through it all, we continued praying for answers and believing there had to be a reason so many unexplained health challenges were affecting our family.
Discovering the Cause
Eventually, we began learning about environmental illness and mold exposure.
At first, mold was not something we had seriously considered. But as we researched the experiences of other families, we noticed many similarities to our own story. We decided to have specialized environmental testing performed on our home.
The results revealed significant mold contamination associated with water-damaged buildings. As we continued learning, we discovered that some individuals may be particularly sensitive to mold toxins and that recovery can be difficult when exposure continues.
For the first time in years, pieces of our story began to fit together.
We realized that many members of our family often felt noticeably better when spending extended periods outdoors in fresh air. We revisited previous concerns involving water intrusion in the home, including a dishwasher leak, an older roof leak, and other areas that may have contributed to the problem.
While we still do not know every answer, we have reached a difficult conclusion: we cannot afford extensive remediation, and we cannot afford to risk putting our family into another home where we may face the same challenges all over again.
Choosing a Healthy Home
Because of this, we have made the decision to pursue a hempcrete home.
For us, this decision is not about luxury. It is about creating a healthy environment where our children can sleep, learn, play, and grow. It is about having confidence that the home surrounding our family is supporting our well-being rather than working against it.
Our Goal
Our goal is simple: a modest 1,500-square-foot home where our family of six can live safely and comfortably. We have committed everything we can financially toward making this dream a reality and are working within a strict budget of $400,000.
This journey comes with additional sacrifices as well. As we prepare to leave our current environment, we are facing the reality that many of our belongings may not be able to come with us. Furniture, household items, clothing, toys, and personal possessions that have been part of our family's life may need to be replaced due to damage associated with our environment. While any support we receive will be directed toward helping us create a healthy home for our family, the financial burden of replacing essential belongings while simultaneously building a new home is substantial and adds another layer of challenge to this transition.
We are not looking for extravagance. We are simply seeking a safe place to raise our children and an opportunity to begin a healthier chapter of life.
Our story is one of perseverance, faith, and hope. Through every challenge, God has continued to carry us forward. We believe this home represents more than walls and a roof. It represents stability, healing, safety, and a fresh start for our family.
Every act of support, partnership, and generosity helps bring us one step closer to that goal, and for that we are deeply grateful.
