Update: While I finally grabbed something to eat, amazing, wondrous things happened. You know how I go on about the miracles this beautiful community creates? Well, all of you did just that tonight. The $500 match was met and surpassed. Aji and I were over the moon and so utterly thankful for all of you. Then, Aji sent me this message.
OMGOMGOMG, Someone just sent through $1500!!! A bunch of smaller donations, too (small only in comparison to that one, I mean), but there's no question we made the match, and NEXT week's labor, too! Ono, I feel like I'm having a panic attack, except it's a good thing, but I still can't breathe! LOL…..I'm just so profoundly grateful that I don't have words for it.
When such an amazing writer as Aji says she can’t find the words, you know that something profound has happened. There truly are no words that can hold the thankfulness that she and Wings are feeling right now. I’m struggling to express my gratitude to all of you as well. How do you say “thank you” for bringing hope where there had been exhaustion, pain, and despair?
We would like to build on this newly fledged hope. Lets see if we can raise enough money to pay for the work crew for a month. That would probably be around six thousand dollars and we are already half way there. So please, lets keep the donations and shares going. Deepest thanks, much love, and all blessings to you and yours — always.
Update 2: Aji left a thank you message below in the comments. I’m going to share it here in hopes that more of you will see it and know how much your caring generosity have given hearts wings.
Ono, everyone . . . .
You literally take my breath away. I had convinced myself that we would have to lay off the crew tomorrow night, and now . . . now they can keep plastering, and get us that much closer to an actual move-in date (which is still way off, but this brings it into focus a bit more). We are both so profoundly grateful, and I keep trying to find words and I have none, but a lot of tears (of the grateful kind). I am so, SO very far behind on thank-yous, and I’m stretched so thin anymore that I’ll stay behind for a good long while, but for every single person who has helped us, whether it’s with a donation or a Lowe’s card for materials or a purchase of Wings’s work or a share of the links or a card or an e-mail or a private message of moral support and prayers and hopes and good vibes on our behalf: Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts; we love you all so very, very much.
Isn’t that coil bracelet beautiful? But then, everything that Wings makes is. He has been working his heart out so he and Aji can have a safe home for the first time in years. They both have. The house is so close to being done, and yet suddenly so far. Being able to pay the work crew is what everything depends upon.
A post by Aji on Thursday has been haunting me. That post and others have made it abundantly clear that everything is on the line — Aji’s and Wing’s home and their health.
No painting today. Shares badly needed.
The post for Wings's site will come later, but I need to get this up early, and I'm already way behind on this day. Way behind on everything else, too. I can't paint (the hip spasms are moving steadily up my back now); the electricity bill has tapped us out; and there's no hope of me getting any writing (or anything else) done while my stress levels are what they are.
That's where we are as of yesterday, in the photo up there. The downstairs bath is mostly done; some of the east wall yet to cover. Next week, they'll finish that, the utility room, the pantry cupboard, and the viga area on the north side of the living room, then move back to the east wall to start the second coat.
IF we can pay them. As of right now, we can't....
Aji is in pain and exhausted. She and Wings both are. For months they have been working through pain, illness, set backs, and the death of a much loved friend, our own Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse. Aji and Wings have fought though it all to build a desperately needed home, a home that began as a bare patch of earth.
Now, they have the final stage to complete and the money has run out. It doesn’t have to be this way.
From Aji’s blog, April 11th —
I hope I can move more freely tomorrow; I need to be well enough by Thursday to resume painting. Right now? Out of the question. I can't even straighten up all the way, much less bend down; I'm stuck with this very small range of motion until my hip joints stop seizing. You have no idea what I'd give right now to be able to soak in a hot bath, but that's been out of the question for seven years now. I won't be able to do it, either, until we get the house habitable, which is going to take a lot more work, and a lot more scratch….
They’re so close. So close to being free of the dangerous tin can they’ve been living in that is freezing in winter, boiling in the summer, and that has caught fire twice.
They’re so close to being able to stop pushing themselves through pain and illness in order to get the work done.
They’re so close to finally being able to just breathe after years of struggle met with consummate grace.
I feel like I'll never be able to breathe properly again. Never stop coughing, either.
This tin can isn't helping. No insulation, and the gaps around every opening let in the cold and the dust, and when the winds are what they've been the last two weeks? And none of that even includes the fact that this whole place is riddled with both formaldehyde and mold. Yes, mold. Wings had to saturate the bathroom with bleach again. It grows on the floor, a product of all the leaks in this place. Seven winters is more than six winters too long….
They just need a little help.
Help they desperately need to keep everything they have been working towards from coming to a grinding halt.
If Aji and Wings can’t raise $1500 this weekend, they are going to have to lay off the workers on their home. That means risking losing the work crew for months. The warm weather is here. Other jobs are available. Aji’s and Wing’s home could sit unfinished and unoccupied while they are forced to continue living in a dangerous tin can.
From Aji’s blog, April 12th —
….We are going to make payroll this week by the skin of our teeth, and nothing else. I mean NOTHING else. Wings's SS, which was deposited today? Already gone; spoken for for the house and for the electric company and his phone. The rest of that last sale? Shade's wire cuts. We are tapped out. Completely.
The guys have so much work to do, and they're all ready to come back on Monday, and we'd like to be able to do that. But without cash flow, we have to lay them off. And now that the weather's warming up, the risk of losing them to other long-term jobs becomes much more acute.
I know people are tired of hearing me beg for shares. You know what? Not one-millionth as tired as I am of asking for them. I've been at this so long, my life is nothing but labor and chasing funding, and the stress is . . . well, let's just say I've been very silent about my actual health issues, but some are rather acute at this point. Nothing changes without my stress levels easing off. That doesn't change until we get this house completed. [And I still can't stand up straight, bend over, or walk properly, either.]
So PLEASE: Share our links. Yes, I'm begging. I've got to get this off our shoulders before it kills us, and the next five days are going to be extraordinarily difficult for me as it is, trying to squeeze blood out of the proverbial stone. There's nothing there, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it except this. We need shares, and we need sales, and the only way that happens is to get the links in front of as many people as possible. Here they are:
- Wings's PayPal account, for donations to the house fund (out of a $30K goal, we've raised an even $4 grand, leaving a balance yet to raise of $26,000). If that link doesn't work, it's tied to his e-mail address: wingsoftaos [at] newmex [dot] com. Also, that link? It's a direct one now, rather than via the "Donate" button, so it should work better.
- His Web site, for sales (always preferable, and the base upon which the whole project hinges anyway, along with paying our day-to-day living expenses) — and just by the way, he's got some really incredible new works up now.
- Our Amazon wishlist, which contains Lowe's cards that will allow us to purchase some materials more cheaply than here in town, and also allow us to divert the extra funds to labor costs.
Many thanks to everyone who's helped us get this far. I'm sorry this post is so negative, but I'm at the end of my rope on this, and there's still so very, very far for us to go.
It seems so “far” because she’s emotionally and physically exhausted.
It doesn’t have to be this way. After long months of effort and struggle, the house is close to being finished. On that bare patch of earth a house is standing. It just needs some help to be completed.
We can help them get there.
Yes, they need thousands of dollars in sales and donations. But we can start with the $1500 they need so the crew can keep working. Four wonderful people have already said that they will each match the first one hundred dollars in donations for a total $500 match. That means if this lovely community’s donations reach five hundred dollars, that amount will be matched for a total of $1000! Fifty people donating $10 each would get us there.
Then we can take the next step and the step after that. The house is so close to being done. We can help make it so.
That would ease so many hearts, especially Aji's and Wing’s. There is so much out of our control in this life. But this we can do. We can help give two amazing people, people who always give no matter their own struggles, a safe home.
If you want to help there are options —
HOW TO HELP
- Purchases from Wings Silverworks is the way they prefer funding the construction of their home. Wings is an exceptionally talented NDN silversmith and photographer. As many can attest, you, or someone you give a present of Wings’ work to, will be delighted with the craftsmanship and beauty found in each piece.
- If you prefer,you can donate via PayPal using Wings’ email address: wingsoftaos [at] newmex [dot] com.
- You can also donate through Aji’s blot site here — Ajijaakwe
- Kosmail belinda ridgewood if you absolutely need to donate by mailing a paper check.
- Their Amazon wishlist which contains Lowe's cards that will allow them to purchase some materials more cheaply than here in town, and also allow them to divert the extra funds to labor costs.
- And Tweet, share on FaceBook, tip/rec/republish on Daily Kos, randomly email your friends about it, drop it into casual conversations. This seems minor, but it is not!
Wings’ silver work is truly extraordinary. It is through the sales of Wings’ work that the house is mainly being funded. There are birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, and holidays coming up. Won’t you please take the time to peruse Wings’ site? You’re certain to find a piece that speaks to you, either for someone else or yourself. Yes, you’re allowed to treat yourself. Truly.
From Aji’s Blog, March 22 —
Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's one of Wings's brand-new works, just completed days ago (and, ironically and unbeknownst to me until now, also in time for World Water Day today). It's a work that embodies the spirit, and spirits, of the waters, and one that honors the worlds in the waters that give us all life.
The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. As always, sales are much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated….
I adore the “Love Dreams” Coil Bracelet Wings created that is at the top of the post. The photos of Wings’ work that are included here are but a small sample. He also does commissioned pieces so put your dreaming hats on.
Don’t know why it didn’t occur to me sooner, but I finally emailed the link to Wings’ web site to some friends and family. That is something we can all do to help grow sales of Wings’ beautiful work.
Donations, small and large, are also gratefully and joyfully appreciated. Each donation matters, greatly. There is no such thing as a “small” donation. They all add up. Each sale matters. Together, we can help Aji and Wings finally have a home that is warm in the winter, comfortable in the summer, and above all — safe.
Thank you so much, wonderful ones, for all that you do. Together, we do make miracles happen. I’ve seen it happen time after time. This amazing community’s creation of a miracle for Aji and Wings will give wings to all our hearts. In this season of rebirth and renewal, lets create some joy.
Blessings to all.