For dear friends of mine — and of yours — what has passed for “home” has been a metal box filled with toxic vapors, and dangerous wiring that has already caught fire twice. A metal box that is blistering hot in summer, hopelessly arctic in winter. They suffer with propane fumes and mold, and pipes that freeze in winter. It has played havoc with their health: they both had pneumonia this year, in addition to Aji’s autoimmune issues and Wings’s battle with diabetes.
I know that for me, at the end of a harrowing day, there is no greater comfort than coming home. Home, where my animals wait for me. Home, where my bed is safe and warm and comfortable. Home, where my joys are all around me. There are many times when it’s truly the only thing that keeps me going. In fact, my very screen name reflects my home: “Yasuragi” means a place (or person) that is comfortable, relaxed, safe.
Aji and Wings haven’t known those calm comforts, that security, that safety. Over a year ago, Aji knew that she and Wings wouldn’t survive another year in the RV they’ve been forced to call home. “We’re not getting any younger,” she said. “This is about six years too long for two aging people with chronic health conditions.”
Aji knew that she and Wings would have to make a herculean effort to build a new home. They knew they would have to work tirelessly, and that she would have to reach out for help. Numerous communities have come together to support their efforts, including this one. We know what home means.
With your kind help, so far — since the project started just under a year ago, their new home — home — looks like this:
They have a crew of brilliant local craftsmen who have done fantastic work raising this structure from the bare earth, which your help has made possible. You’ve been there every step of the way, making contributions, sharing links, and urging friends to check out Wings’s astonishingly beautiful jewelry and photos. Wings’s work has funded most of the construction, and you’ve bolstered that effort beautifully.
Here are some examples of Wings’s superb craftsmanship:
We need to keep up our support. We need our beloved friends to come home to a safe and happy place to lay their heads. Onomastic said this to me:
In the midst of all the horror that’s happening around us, we’ve been helping create something beautiful. Aji and Wings’s new home symbolizes hope in the midst of all this insanity. It shows what is possible when a community comes together, and that together there is nothing we can’t do. That, in itself, is a miracle. We need to be reminded of that in every way possible, and this house — this home — is hope. Not just for them, but for all of us. It’s proof — in wood, plaster, stucco, and paint — that together we make miracles happen.
We started this journey toward a safe home for Aji and Wings a year ago:
And just look where we are. Ono’s right: that’s a miracle if ever I saw one, rising right out of Wings’s tribal land. We can’t stop now: we’ve come so far, but there’s so much yet to do.
We’re looking for another $6000 to help them through the next few weeks of finishing up the interior and exterior plaster-work, wiring, and more. As always, labor costs for their wonderful crew are the largest expense. Aji wrote a few days ago:
The guys keep telling us that everyone runs into the wall of constant expense at this point, but "everyone" else builds with a home construction loan to cover this stuff, and the stress of trying to do it as we go is really grinding us both down.
Then there are all the materials. You can help with direct contributions through PayPal, or by filling up their Amazon Wishlist and Loew’s cards (see below).
Home really is where the heart is (I can’t believe I actually used such a tired old cliche, but… y’know), and you won’t find two bigger, better hearts than those of Aji and Wings. They have always stepped up when someone needs help: they frequently put their own needs on hold so that help may go to others. They rescue animals, they support their community (and this one), they watch over their neighbors who need help.
Let’s keep the miracle going, okay? Ono is fond of quoting Samwise Gamgee: “There are some things worth fighting for.” A home for people we love is at the top of my list. By putting our hearts into helping these two remarkably caring and generous souls, we bolster our own. Hope lives.
Matching funds:
We’ve got $500 in matching funds available. When we raise $500, the contributions jump to $1000. Cool kinda double vision, huh?
Here’s how to help:
- Wings’ Paypal Account — and by the way, since that’s a PayPal.me link, you can copy/paste it into twitter for easy sharing there (or if it’s easier for you to type, it’s www.paypal.me/DiegoWings). If for some reason the link doesn't work, it's tied to his e-mail address: wingsoftaos [at] newmex [dot] com.
- Their Amazon Wishlist — the Lowe’s gift cards in particular are extremely useful, as that is where they have to buy many of the materials for the house — they will really be needing these in the days to come, for flooring, fixtures, interior doors.
- Wings’ Website — Shares thereof or purchases from help fund their day to day living expenses and the major portion of their home construction.
Even if you can’t contribute, shares are a huge help. Share Wings’s website. Share Aji’s. Share this post. Call your grandma and tell her you want a piece of Wing’s work. (You know you want to.) Father’s Day is coming. So is your kid’s/nephew’s/mother’s graduation. That anniversary you forgot last year? Comin’ up!
Works made by Wings will be cherished for generations. Please share.
Tuesday, Jun 6, 2017 · 12:38:51 AM +00:00 · Yasuragi
We’re almost halfway to the match! When we hit $500, it jumps to $1000! And that will help keep Aji and Wings’s wonderful work crew going for another week — labor costs are about $1500 a week, not counting materials. If labor costs aren’t met, nothing gets done.
Extra Update
Message from Aji:
You know, I keep telling everybody that you’re not allowed to make me cry, and no one ever listens to me. 😂
We have a storm brewing here (and allegedly for the rest of the week, which is welcome), and so I may lose my Internet soon (which is not), but thank you, Yasu, and all of you, everybody, so very, very much. We are so close and yet so far, and as I said to someone earlier, if I’d had any idea what all this entailed when we embarked on this fool’s errand 20 months ago, I would’ve been too cowardly even to try it. But we’re in it now, we have to keep going forward, and we are so profoundly grateful to everyone for every rec, tip, share, kind word, message of support, purchase from the wish list, donation, purchase of Wings’s art . . . everything means more than I can say.
One thing I need to clarify, if my connection holds long enough: This is tribal land. Housing programs are hard come by around here, with years-long waiting lists (and an overt effort to zero out their budgets by the Orange Demon & his minions). Banks will not lend for construction on tribal land; there’s no such thing as a mortgage here, because they can’t take the house away (they can’t take the land it sits on, more accurately). Wings owns the land outright; it’s been in his family longer than anyone’s oldest ancestors remember. But it’s part of the tribal lands that are “held in trust,” as the paternalistic term is expressed, by the federal government, and while theoretically no one can take it, the feds can always do whatever they can get away with, and there is indeed an “administration” effort afoot now to allow banks and corporations and private non-Natives access to Native lands (Wings has been contemplating a joint writing effort about it). All that said, this is as close as it gets to “a home no one can take away,” pretty much anywhere. But he does own the land outright (with rights of alienation to one very limited population: enrolled members of Taos Pueblo *only*). It’s been in his family for centuries. But for most people here, the only realistic way to have an actual home is 1) to put a manufactured home on it (and we all know what happens then), or 2) build one’s own home from the ground up. And so, nearly two years into the process, we’re still building.
The house looks a lot bigger in photos than it actually is (the RV is longer!), but it will be extraordinarily energy-efficient in a climate that gets to 100 in the summer and occasionally as low as -40 in winter. The natural insulation is phenomenal, and the passive solar is, too. It will cut our monthly expenses drastically just in terms of electricity.
I’m trying to anticipate questions here, and probably failing miserably, and the wind has kicked up enough that my connection may not hold much longer, so once again, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, and much love to everyone.
Tuesday, Jun 6, 2017 · 4:53:36 AM +00:00 · Yasuragi
Well… this just came in and broke my heart — in a good way:
In view of the events of Saturday evening, I have just sent $20 with the message
From a Londoner to show that love can conquer acts of hate.
On that incredibly moving note, I’m gonna turn in. Back in the morning. Thank you all so much! Only $60 away!!