Sixty feet and six inches is the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate in the game of baseball.

My name is Chau, and I'm raising $300,000 to move my five kids into the house next door.

Two years ago, I picked myself up from the floor of a mental hospital, determined to fight to return to my kids. Two days prior, being served divorce papers brought about shock, feelings of failure, and being unwanted. After eleven years of marriage to a minister, the event questioned my identity as a wife and mother to my five children. I went into the mental hospital feeling defeated and in despair. I thought I failed my husband, children, church, and friends. I felt that the divorce was my fault, and I deserved to be locked up, never to enjoy the freedom of the outside world or be allowed to see my children again.

In this dark place, I came to myself and saw a small glimpse of light where life is beautiful and worth living. I changed my perception from a failure to a fighter and never looked back. My children will be protected as long as there is breath in me. I lost custody of my five children. The fight to get the kids back home took six months and every penny in my savings. They finally came home to Withrope St. before Christmas of 2020.

The children's lives will be shaken up again, and we have less than 40 days to move. Before Easter, our landlady came to me with news that she would be moving into our home to be closer to her elderly mom. This is another opportunity for me to purify my fight for my children. I dusted off my real estate license and joined Coldwell Banker Realty and Orange County's Association of Realtors on a quest to find my children a stable home.

We have been searching ever since; the drive home from open houses inevitably ended in tears. Tears of fear, failure, and defeat. We are all saddened to leave our home, baseball buddies, coaches, and neighbors. My two older boys, Caleb and Jonah, want to remain in the neighborhood to play Little League baseball in the nearby middle school. Jonah wants to play with his teammates who live on the same block.

The house next door is up for sale. The kids asked if we could in. I said yes, it’s called trespassing, and we’ll all move into prison together. Jonah quickly told me that my joke is not funny. Remembering that I’m a fighter, in my pajamas and pink fluffy slipper with a neighbor friend for moral support,  I knocked on my neighbor’s door and asked if he would consider my offer for his home. I reassured him that my offer was not based on his merit but on my maximum capacity. I didn’t give him a chance to reject me just yet but asked that he consider my offer. 

The housing market in Orange County is at the highest it’s been in history and our timing is less than perfect. My partner and I qualify for an $825,000 purchase after I cash in all my retirement for a down payment. The house next door is $1,125,000. We have a gap of $300,000.

I can choose defeat, or I can choose to fight. For my five children, I humbly ask my community for help. Help for the stability they desperately need in life’s uncontrollable circumstances. I’m asking you to join me in keeping these kids in their homes just one door over. This is the place where they are recognized and seen by neighbors. Our red stroller can be seen walking the sidewalks. Our white mischievous dog will know where home is after a great escape to roam the neighborhood because the kids forget to close the gate after taking the trash cans to the curb. This is the neighborhood the children call home. It’s where they were born, where they witnessed their life fall apart and broken pieces of our life put back together. This is where we learn to remain resilient and where we learn to grow in love.

Will you prayerfully consider a monetary gift to help us reach our goal of $300K? Three hundred gifts of $1000 will help us meet our goal! Thank you for your consideration to provide the opportunity for these children to stay in their homes and move one yard to the left. The baseball games in the street will continue, and practice pitching on sixty and a half feet of grass in the backyard. To ensure that next season, Caleb and Jonah will rejoin their friends for a new season of play at TWLL.

With Love,

Chau and The Schwendikids