Help Me Bridge the Gap to a Better Future

Almoat 6 years ago, my family of 5 left our old life behind and moved to Missouri with a dream of building something sustainable.

After the pandemic shut so much of the world down, I made the decision to leave a 10-year career in Orlando and start over. After months of due diligence and many roadblocks, I found affordable property that had most of what I was looking for. I took our stimulus, cashed in my 401K and put .money down on an off grid property in SW Missouri. The next March, we left Orlando and once we got here, we began building a homestead from the ground up—a place where we could become more self-reliant, work with our hands, and create a better life for our family. I wanted a home we didn't need a vacation from.

I had always hoped that our children would eventually stay here with us, that we'd all live on the property and help one another build something together. But our kids grew up and chose their own paths, as children eventually do.

Now it's just my wife and me.

We're still paying for our property and our cabin, and we're completely off-grid. We make our own electricity with solar and a generator. We haul our water and use a rain catchment system from our roof. We heat with wood in the winter. We raise rabbits and chickens, and we've built much of our homestead ourselves.

There's still a lot left to build, but we're determined to keep going.

The problem is that I'm in my 40s and starting over financially. My field of expertise does not serve me in rural Missouri and I need training in a new career.

I currently work as a rural transit driver. I genuinely enjoy the work and helping people in our community, but the income is just enough to survive. Between the property, cabin, food, fuel, equipment, and the ongoing costs of maintaining an off-grid homestead, we're still struggling.

I've found a path forward.

I've enrolled in school to earn my CDL-A and transition into a local commercial driving career.

The good news is that Missouri Workforce is covering the cost of my CDL training. I'm incredibly grateful for that opportunity.

What I need help with isn't the training itself.

I need help surviving the transition.

While I'm in school, I'll have limited or no income from my current job. After completing the program, there will also be a gap while I test, get licensed, find the right job, and start receiving a paycheck.

That's what I'm raising money for.

Your donation will help cover our basic living expenses during that transition—things like groceries, fuel, household necessities, property expenses, and keeping our home and homestead going while I'm working toward a career that can provide a more stable income.

I'm not asking for someone to build our dream for us.

I'm asking for a little help keeping the lights on while I work to build the ability to provide for my wife myself.

Once I'm working as a CDL-A driver, my goal is to put that increased income toward our property and continue building our homestead into the self-reliant place I've always envisioned.

I want to give my wife a better life here.

I want to finish what we started.

And I want to prove that even when you're starting over in your 40s, it's not too late to change the direction of your life.

If you can donate, every dollar will help us get through this transition.

If you can't donate, sharing our fundraiser with someone who might be willing to help would mean just as much to us.

I'm not looking for a handout. I'm asking for a bridge to a better future.

Thank you for reading our story, believing in what we're trying to build, and helping us take the next step.