Code Pinkers Unite to Stop Auction, Save Gulf War Marine Mom's Home

Code Pinkers Unite to Stop Auction, Save Gulf War Marine Mom's Home

Friday was an historic day. At 11am, Jocelyne Voltaire was scheduled to lose her home in Queens Village, the home she had lived in for the past 20 years, the home where she raised her four children. Unable to keep up her skyrocketing mortgage payments, Jocelyne watched in horror as her home was put on the auction block. This amazing video clip by American News Project brought Jocelyn's plight to our attention.

At 9:05 am EST, we sent out an urgent call to our CODEPINK list. Our jaws dropped when we saw the response. Donations of $5, $25, $500, even $1,000! Within an hour, we had raised over $10,000. And the money kept pouring in, along with beautiful messages of support.

Jocelyne was moved to tears. And the mortgage bankers, with our immediate promise of $15,000 at 11am, were "moved" to stop the auction.

We did it!!! While our government has taken billions of our tax dollars to bail out the wealthy, we came together to bail out a desperate mother. Thanks to you, in one day we raised over $30,000 from 650 donors and showered Jocelyne with love and compassion. We modeled exactly what we want our government to do-bail out families facing personal disaster, not financiers.

Jocelyne still faces enormous hurdles, both financial and emotional. She has to pull herself out of a deep depression from the loss of her eldest son, a Marine who had served in the Gulf. She has to recover her health so she can start working again. She has to fix up her home so she can get renters to augment her income. And she still has to renegotiate her loan and make monthly mortgage payments.

But thanks to you, Jocelyne now has another chance. We found a wonderful pro-bono lawyer to help her battle the predatory lenders and restructure her loan. And after wiring the mortgage company $15,000, we will use the funds that keep coming in to help Jocelyne make her monthly payments and get back on her feet.

As we write, Jocelyne is feeling exhausted but renewed. She is ready to unpack the boxes she has been living out of for the past year. She now feels surrounded by people who want to lift her up, not toss her out. And she wants to use her experience to help others. At the press conference we held at the courthouse steps, surrounded by dozens of cameras, Jocelyne said: "To all of you facing similar disasters, don't be silent, don't be ashamed. Step forward and call out for help. That's what I did, and a miracle happened. These angels came to help me. We all have to pull together and help each other."

You are those angels and we at CODEPINK are in awe of you-your generosity, your compassion, your willingness to stand up for Main Street Americans. Now let's pull together in the coming months, as Jocelyne asked us to do, and move our government to do the same-bail out Main Street, not Wall Street.

Thanks for making miracles happen. Here's to Jocelyne, to you and to solidarity.

Dana, Deidra, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jean, Jodie, Liz, Lori, Medea, Nancy, and Rae