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Aid for Abby, aidforabby, ASD, Asperger's, autism, Buster's Bones for a Home, child, children, d, disability, disabled, etsy, Facebook, homelessness, indiegogo, press release, single mom, social media, Twitter
Mom With Autistic Child Uses Social Media to Prevent Homelessness
INDEPENDENCE, MO (PRWEB) July 3, 2012
Faced with homelessness and dealing daily with a child with autism, this single mom is using social media outlets Indiegogo http://bit.ly/MIoS95 and Etsy http://etsy.me/LTX00A to prevent loss of their home. Meet Benita Blair, who is selling baked dog treats to friends, neighbors and total strangers over the Internet to get enough money to save the home she and her children live in from foreclosure. She has a teenage son and a young daughter with Autism.
Like so many great ideas, it was born of sheer desperation. After 5 years of living in the house in Independence, MO, a double whammy pushed her to the brink of losing their home, vehicle and their entire possessions.
The first hit was when a home that she lived in with family went to foreclosure in 2007. She had just received disability and was unable to work outside of the home. A neighbor, having heard of her situation, gladly accepted her and her two children along with their therapy dog into his home. Due to space limitations, they could only bring their beds, clothing and keepsake photographs. This was a fortunate thing because Benita’s daughter has Autism, which makes it difficult on the child to make unexpected changes. It has adverse effects on whatever progress a child has made. The neighbor lived in the same neighborhood, so the move to his home solved a very difficult problem. This was to be a fresh start for the family.
The second hit was on May 8, 2012 when the neighbor who accepted her family into his home suddenly and unexpectedly died. The neighbor had a Will that left everything to charity. Benita was faced again with starting over and no where else to turn, she hit on the idea of selling homemade dog biscuits that she had already been making for her dogs. Thus, “Buster’s Bones for a Home” was launched.
However, the sales of the dog bones would not help enough or in time before they would have to vacate the home, so Benita searched the internet for a way to get help. She happened on a site called Indiegogo.com. This site allows people to set up a page to ask the general public for specific help. It can be for anything or any reason. For those that donate to the fund, Benita has set up gifts of artwork done by her daughter, who is a prolific and talented young artist. Benita is hoping that the two methods Indiegogo.com and Buster’s Bones will reap enough to help the family in time.
The handmade bones are made with a special recipe that was developed through trial and error. “I asked my kids, ‘What do you think about the idea of selling our handmade dog bones to help us out?’” I figured if I could sell 1000 orders of Buster’s Bones, then we should have enough money to find suitable housing and a vehicle. My daughter Abby, who suffers from autism, thought it was a great idea. Buster is Abby’s therapy dog. This is a family effort and both children are involved from mixing, baking and shipping.
Buster’s Bones are $11.99 for a package of 30 through Etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/AidforAbby?ref=pr_shop_more, a handmade marketplace. We also have available various pieces of Abby’s artwork.delicious Buster the Beagle approved treats. They are baked daily to guaranteed freshness. I set out first to ask family and friends and it has grown from there. Currently, we sell them online
