Help our friend Chris get a home!

The Story

If you are kind at heart and your situation allows it, please consider making a donation!
We are trying to raise enough money to help our friend Chris get a home of his own. We hope we all can say “You are not alone, Chris! We are all with you and we can make it happen!”

Chris, 48, sustained a complete spinal cord injury in a ski accident in 2012 and has been in a wheelchair ever since, completely paralyzed below his chest. Thankfully, he is a fighter and never gave up. Chris’ upbeat personality and can-do attitude helped him to adapt to his new condition and have sustained him ever since. Within a year after the near-fatal injury, he was back teaching at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) where he is an associate professor at the Department of Journalism and Public Relations. His students love him and regard him as an exceptional teacher; his colleagues respect his drive and dedication; he is an active member of the community where he carries advocacy on behalf of the disabled. He has achieved independence and lives with a small companion dog named Ahri.

Friends and other kind souls have always come through for Chris providing continuous emotional as well as occasionally financial support as necessary. Now Chris is facing a significant challenge in addition to his mobility impairment, medical complications and constant nerve pain. The building in which he rents an apartment has changed ownership and the new management keeps raising the rent without providing adequate support and maintenance. The apartment is only partially adapted to his needs, and even if Chris had the funds he would not be able to make the necessary changes to adjust the living space to his medical condition because he does not own the place.

We are hoping to raise enough money to get him on the track of buying a home that can be adapted fully to his needs. It will also provide him with the security of knowing that he has a place he can call his own, and can go on paying it off in the next 20 years until he retires from teaching.

The median price of a home in the Long Beach area today is pushing $600,000 (Zillow.com), which is a long way to go! He will need a lot of help to be able to afford it. With his proven commitment to a steady job he qualifies for a mortgage from a bank, but still needs to put down at least 25% of the final cost. Let’s help him do that!

Some people would say why wouldn’t he move to a less expensive location? Well, he cannot just pack and leave because his job is here. He is tenured in his academic position at CSULB. The specialized doctors he needs are in the area and his medical condition limits severely his ability to be a flexible participant in the nationwide labor market. Thus, Chris cannot easily switch occupations or locations. Because of his condition, his annual medical expenses are sky high, which makes it extremely important for him to maintain his job and health insurance.

We hope that with your contributions he will get closer to moving into his own home where he can have all the necessary accommodations and medical equipment to assist him in daily living. You will also keep a truly inspirational professor in the classroom.

Thank you for your generosity and thank the universe for your kindness!

Katia & Kathryn,

Link: https://www.youcaring.com/chriskaradjov-890286

.