Hi, my name is Josef, a husband, stepfather who has worked since when I was 15 years old (now I´m 35), and I´m from Brazil. I´m not here to ask money for a revolutionary gadget that will make me rich, or to make a potato salad like I´ve seem before. I´m here asking for help, as a last resort on saving our home, the place i live since I was born, and now where my family lives, from a foreclosure.
Click Here to see the project at IndieGoGo.
But I do have a Job, so what happened?
I´ve work on IT area since I was a teenager, and my last 10 years, I was working as a contractor on a big American multinational company who has a big operation here in Brazil. About 3 years ago, I´ve tried to start a business, and we started good, we made some money, and we where good, and everything was going ok, this helped us to have an extra income. But, one day, an international costumer conned us and and this caused a huge hole on my small business bank account. We where overcome this and where slowly recovering from the problem when it did happened again…
And that time, we where not able to fill the hole, and the company broke. So on that time, I struggled with the bills and my salary, but in the end, the only solution was to put my home into a mortgage, get the money, pay the higher interest bank debt and pay the monthly mortgage, and this where working well. The issue came when, from nowhere, the company I worked, just decided to end the contractors contract, and with no warning or any kind of explanation, I was fired, along wit some other colleagues. I spend 6 moths to find a new job, even with all the experience I have, since economy is not good here in Brazil, despites what the government says…
Thanks to a friend, after 6 months, and 1 week before I got completely out of money even to eat, I was called to an interview, and now I´m working. Its a good job, I have good friends that and it pays a good salary for what I´m doing, but the issue is that after taxes and health plans deductions, I ended earning little less than 60% money per month than I earned before. We reduced our monthly costs, cutting things that where not essentials, like magazine subscriptions, high velocity Internet, movies channels, etc…
But this was not enough… In the end, now I can pay the monthly bills like water, electricity, food, transportation to work, etc.. but I just don´t have money to pay the mortgage…I do have other debts to pay, but the most important thig is the mortgage, that is taking my sleep nights away… and soon, my home…
What We Need & What You Get
Going to the point, we need US$ 26,000.00 to pay the mortgage, and get out of this dead end we are. This may not be much money for some people, or for some companies, and if we split in thousands of helpers, this become even less, but for us, its too much, and not having this amount means we will loose the only thing we really have, that is our home.
I know that most of the crowdfunding projects offer something back to the people who help, but I don´t have much to offer, as you may have seen…Sincerely, I don´t have much to offer, but what I can do is:
- List your name, country and city on a website, thanking you or your company for this;
- I can also tell to the bank about the help you all gave to me, and send the same list to then, when I pay the bill, so they know how much you helped me;
- Another thing that I will do, is post in the website the paid bill;
- If for paying the full value to the bank I earn any kind of discount in the debt, I will use the rest of the money to pay other debts, and will also post on the same website, so everybody will see that I´m not using the money for anything else than putting my family finance back on track.
Another thing I can do is something really unique and it just came in my mind:
If someone (or a group) make a single donation of US$ 24,000.00 I can give you my 1986 Gurgel XEF, a very rare car, where only 147 where built only in Brazil (mine is number 126). The car was almost completely recovered, it has new painting, new glass rubbers, new wheels, and the seats got new synthetic leather, etc. The only thing missing is a spare wheel, and the cover from the inside of the 2 doors. Its a unique car, my first car in fact, and I had plans to finishing reforming it, but I sure that having a place to my family, is far more important than having an old car rebuilt and on a garage.
Just remember that in order to receive the car, the helper (or helpers) must the legally able to receive this car here in Brazil, or at least point me someone who would receive it in your name, its up to you. I will see if I have a photo of my car here, I believe I have an old one, from when we stat working on it and it was being painted. Its really a collectors car, since its basically a “mini-Mercedes-Benz”, its realy, realy cool. I will add some pictures in the Gallery so you can see.
The Impact
What to say… You will help save my family home! With that you this is the impact you will cause:
- You will allow me to have my first good night of sleep in 10 months;
- I will be able to focus or working and taking care of my family;
- I will keep my family in the apartment I was raise, and is the only thing my father left to me when he gone;
- I will be able to reorganize my life and get back to the university.
Basicaly, you will help making me having my life back…
Other Ways You Can Help
I know that not everybody can contribute with money, but this does not mean you cannot help. Please, forward this campaign to people or companies that you you that can help, spread the word. I don´t want to become rich.. I just don´t want to loose our home.
