Neighbors Raise $15,000+ for Fox Point Family Losing Home to Foreclosure

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2 mins read
Photo from Jack Keenan's GoFundMe Campaign

Sometimes, when all seems lost, it’s your neighbors who come to the rescue.

A Fox Point couple led their neighbors into quick action this week after discovering a family was losing their home to foreclosure and on the verge of losing all of their personal belongings. Jack Keenan swiftly started an online fundraiser which he shared with neighbors in an effort to help the family. Already, donations have surpassed $15,000 with over 135 people taking part.

If you’d like to contribute, visit GoFundMe.com/FoxPointNeighborInNeed.

Jack’s original GoFundMe post shares that the neighbor and her 90+ year old parents had been evicted from the home they have lived in for 50 years due to foreclosure.

“The sheriff evicted them yesterday and had all of their belonging moved into their front yard,” Jack writes. “She is taking what she can this morning before a dumptser service is going to arrive at 10:00 AM to throw everything away. She and her parents are curently moved into a motel and are figuring out what they are going to do next.”

Within hours, a small army of neighbors snapped into action helping in more ways than one. Here’s an excerpt from Jack’s update to the story shared on his GoFundMe page Wednesday:

“I have heard this post has reached beyond our neighborhood so I thought I would update the story. I hastily set up this account yesterday morning and embedded it in our neighborhood NextDoor site which had all the details, but those outside of our neighborhood are not connected to that site, so here is the history….

On Monday evening, I was returning from work when I received a call from my wife about a house in our neighborhood with all their belongings in the front yard.”

Jack wrote the he immediately suspected foreclosure. When he noticed a woman in the driveway loading small boxes into her car he stopped to introduce himself.

“She has lived in the house with her 90+ year old parents for 50 years,” Jack writes. “They had a reverse mortgage and couldn’t keep up.”

During their conversation, Jack learned that the bank foreclosed on the property, the sheriff evicted them Monday morning and had all of their possessions moved out into their front yard. The neighbor was told she had 24 hours to remove their belongings from the yard as a dumpster would be arriving to throw everything out. He says he returned at 6:30 the next morning to find that neighbor trying her best to move items from her front yard to avoid having them tossed into the dumpster. That’s when Jack created the GoFundMe campaign and sent out a message to the neighborhood.

“She didn’t ask me for anything and cried when I offered her some financial assistance,” Jack writes. “Within 20 minutes of my post, 30+ neighbors responded and were in her front yard helping her save her memories. One of our neighbors who owns a trucking company had a truck there within an hour and everything she was at risk of loosing was saved. There is certainly a long road ahead for this family, but the outpouring of compassion and generosity showed by our small neighborhood in Barrington is truly remarkable. Thank you!”

Jack plans on following up with the family in the coming days to give them access to the funds raised and offer guidance about housing solutions. He plans to share additional updates as donations continue at GoFundMe.com/FoxPointNeighborInNeed.

Photo from Jack Keenan’s GoFundMe Campaign

 

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