On August 23, our lives changed in a matter of hours.

A fire swept through our home, destroying much of our living space and many of the ordinary things that made up daily life. We are still sorting through what survived, what can be salvaged, and what is simply gone.

Then came another difficult realization: there is no homeowners or property insurance available to replace what was lost.

We are enormously grateful that our family is here. Things can be replaced. People cannot. And we have already been blessed by people who have prayed, offered places to stay, provided necessities, and simply stood beside us as we figure out what comes next.

Now we need to create a workable path forward.

We aren't trying to replace everything

Rather than make a long list of everything the fire took, we have been asking a different question:

What is the most responsible way to use the help we receive to get our family functional again and keep earning a living while we rebuild?

One answer keeps rising to the top: a used motorhome that can serve as a temporary mobile living and working base.

This isn't about buying an RV for vacations. A carefully chosen motorhome could provide several things we urgently need at once: living space, private workspace, kitchen and bathroom facilities, climate control, emergency power, and a place from which we can continue working—without pouring recovery funds into temporary housing that disappears month after month.

More Than Temporary Housing

There is another reason this solution makes sense.

Before the fire, we had already been exploring ways to take some of our professional work out of the office and into the rural communities around us.

In Southwest Colorado, distance can be a real barrier to care. Mental-health and legal services may exist but still be difficult to reach because of transportation, distance, work, or family responsibilities.

Our longer-term hope is to transition the motorhome into a Mobile Mental Health and Mobile Legal Clinic, bringing private professional services into rural communities that can be difficult to serve from a traditional office.

So the same vehicle that provides urgently needed living and working space now could eventually become something that serves others.

First, a mobile base to rebuild from. Later, a mobile base from which to serve.

We don't pretend the fire happened for a good reason. It didn't. But since we have to build something new from what remains, we want to build wisely.

Why $60,000?

We are shopping the used market, not looking for something new or luxurious. Based on what we are finding, we expect a suitable used motorhome to cost approximately $35,000–$45,000.

The remainder provides room for inspection, taxes and registration, insurance, necessary repairs and maintenance, tires or batteries if needed, and the basic power, connectivity, and workspace setup required to put an older vehicle immediately into service.

If we find the right solution for less, we will spend less.

We are also pursuing grants, disaster assistance, charitable help, donated or loaned equipment, and other recovery resources. Our goal isn't to spend $60,000. It is to accomplish this as responsibly and economically as we can.

You can help without giving money

We know not everyone can contribute financially, and we don't want anyone giving beyond what they can reasonably afford.

Sharing this campaign can help enormously. So can leads on a suitable motorhome, a donated or long-term loaned unit, dealer assistance, RV or mechanical expertise, recovery grants, equipment, or other resources that could help us accomplish the same goal for less.

And we welcome your prayers.

Our faith does not mean we expect this road to be easy. It means we believe we do not walk it alone.

We didn't expect to be asking for help like this. We want to use whatever help is entrusted to us to restore our ability to live, work, recover, and rebuild—and, eventually, turn part of our own recovery into a way of serving others.

We are deeply grateful for every person who gives, shares, helps, or prays.

Thank you for helping us build a place to begin again.