“Relief campaign for the Forbush Family

Winter 2022/2023 has been a very difficult and trying time for the Forbush family and their homestead. The Forbush's with their children live on the family farm in the mountains of SouthEastern Idaho, in a small place called Mink Creek. Winter of 2022/2023 has brought record amounts of snow far beyond what any old timer in the area recalls in over 50+ years. Unfortunately, early in the morning on March 16th the family homestead and basement became heavily damaged by a flood of uncontrollable runoff waters. The snowpack at the time was only 20% melted! Despite strong efforts to mitigate, flooding with a high potential for additional damage is expected throughout the month of April.

Water and snow damage so far includes the following…

-All sub-flooring and carpet in the basement. Including the bedrooms for the Forbush children.

-The trim and finishing work on all baseboards which had several inches of water accumulation.

-Framing in several sections

-Doors and doorways

-All drywall and wall paneling

-Electrical and network

-Front exterior rock work and stucco

-Multiple sections of front perimeter fencing to keep kids away from the road, and back animal containment fencing.

-Septic system

-Damage to top soil and grade

-Damage to concrete

-Damage to the roof gutter due to deep heavy snow and ice falling of

-Some damage to roof trusses on car port and barn due to the weight of the excessive snow and ice.

-Mold damage

Prior to this winter of 2022/2023, the Forbush family was already struggling financially but still managing to make ends meet month to month with difficulty. In 2018, Jamie was still running his own successful business. It sold that same year. A few years later in 2022, Jamie had to take the business back from the buyer because the buyer stopped making payments and was ready to declare bankruptcy. Jamie took back an asset that had been devalued over the previous few years due to lack of business revenue and gaining a reputation that the business was much less capable than prior to the sale. In an effort to survive financially Jamie quickly sold the business assets to a friend. The sale was for much less than what was remaining owed from the previous sale due to the condition of the business.

In January 2023 this year, the Forbush's were also taken to small claims court by an individual who installed a very poorly constructed fence in the fall/winter of 2020. Natalie needed a fence that would contain horses. She asked for a simple yet stable “horse fence.” The installer sent several workers who did not care to install it correctly. Wire wasn't stretched properly, the corner railroad posts were only in the ground 1 ½ feet! The electric fence was not installed correctly and was shorting out. As a result, the fence fell to the ground within less than a month following completion. The Forbush's kept attempting to make payments 2 years ago but noted to the installer their expectation that the fence should be fixed and completed correctly. The installer rejected payments and waited 2 years to file a small claim of $5,000. The Forbush's asked two professional fence installers to give a second opinion to which both said on record in their professional opinion that “the fence was the most poorly installed fence they had ever seen.” But the judge still sided with the installer. Now, the installer is demanding all the money knowing full well the current situation of the family, accompanied with threats of visits and collections harassment.

The flooding has washed or broken much of the remaining integrity of all the coral fencing needed to contain the horses, goats, and dog kennels. This winter has been extremely hard on multiple animal pens. In addition to acres of horse fencing needing redone, rabbit kennels and hutches, along with dog kennels also need repaired. It has taken out all the electrical on one dog kennel, and bowed much of the framing on two adjoining kennels. Two other kennels are completely buried in snow waiting still to access the damage to them and the dog houses within. Several rabbit hutches will have to be rebuilt due to the damage to the wood and doors due to the weather. Our large rabbit runs and roofing completely caved in and ruined all the framing as well for both of them. This winter has been equally difficult for the animals. The farm has lost 3 dogs, 2 goats, 2 horses with a third horse severely injured, and 11 rabbits killed too. Leading into the season, Natalie had planned 3 litters of puppies due to having a large waiting list of over 45 people looking to purchase them. Twenty-five puppies were born, yet at the time for them to be placed into their homes with their families, many flaked out, decided to wait another year, etc leaving just over half the puppies searching for homes. Many have found homes now at this point with 4 still remaining from those litters, yet at a much reduced cost...losing money to their feed and vet expenses. In the late summer we had a visitor, who unknowingly introduced parvo to the property. Luckily all our dogs and puppies were up to date on vaccinations, however, puppies had not yet received all their boosters. One puppy contracted parvo, and was promptly noticed and taken to the vet. He was caught early enough that the first test didn't register as parvo initially...but he was exhibiting all the symptoms. Luckily the promptness prevented any of the other puppies and dogs from catching the extremely contagious illness. Yet the one sick puppy, even though caught early on, underwent almost a week at the clinic in in-house treatment, and several additional weeks of in-home care. He did recover! But it was just under 3k for his recovery expenses. In the fall, Natalie was contemplating putting down an old horse due to his lack of teeth and ability to maintain weight without a soaked pelleted hay and grain diet. Before putting him down, she reached out to several people who had known and loved the horse in his time here. One of them agreed to help with his new diet feed expenses throughout the winter, as an alternative to putting him down while the weather was still nice. Instead a month or so into helping with his cost and after the snow came all help ceased and Natalie was left with a $600 a month feed bill solely for the one horse each month. Also two horses in the late fall were dumped onto the ranch in a rescue situation, even though the ranch was already not taking on anymore horses. The intention was to simply place the horses into new homes given their old owners circumstances, yet as of April 8th, the owner still hasn't sent the horses paperwork, so the horses cannot yet be placed into their new homes until that has taken place, so two unplanned horses were fed all winter long as well.

Natalie is pregnant and expecting in August 2023. Hay is getting low. The Forbush's make enough of their own hay to get their animals by until mid April or the beginning of May. By this time of year, normally the snow has melted and the grass is starting to grow on the hillside so the horses can be turned out for grazing while the family grows, cuts, and bales their next winter's crop. As of April 8th, there is still close to 3 feet of snow whereas normally, grass would be growing by now. This year's crop will not be able to have the first cut and harvest until late into the season due to the water table and saturation of the fields. Even worse, the crop could be damaged and washed out if the water flows too fast through the fields which could destroy the entire crop.

The Forbush's are down to one vehicle which is on its last leg. In November 2022, one of the younger boys (the 2 year old) found and lost the FOB key to the 4x4 pickup so it has been inoperable and parked, more like buried under 5 feet of snow. Deep enough that a new FOB key cannot be made until the snow is melted. It will be costly to make a new FOB key due the fact that it requires a service visit from an hour away and reprogramming the truck's computer. So the Forbush's have been using their car to get around all winter. The heat/AC controls do not work so all winter required heavy coats when driving places and the windows rolled down to keep the windows from fogging in order to see the road. Due to the -35 temperatures in January, the radiator cracked requiring a replacement. While being serviced in early March just prior to the beginning of flooding, a very kind neighbor who is wonderful, and salt of the Earth, loaned the family her car so the family could get around and do basic things. When pulling out of the driveway, the undercarriage of her car hit the ice and tore out several lines underneath. An already difficult situation became much worse knowing that the vehicle of a good Samaritan was also damaged. 

Overall total damages to property, farm, and house structure now exceed $150,000. The remainder of this flooding and spring season are being observed as things continue to occur. The Forbush family will need to make repairs on the home in order to be ready for their new baby who will be born in mid August 2023.”