Welcome to The Moldy Escape website.

We're a chronically ill sibling duo (sister and brother) trying to escape the death trap that is our abusive parents home; we're not only trying to escape the moldy environment, but the controlling and abusive dictatorship of our parents as well.The purpose of this site is to briefly summarize and explain the crisis we're currently trying to escape from.I (the sister) am the one who runs and manages our socials, Throne, and website. So you will see "we" and "I" used interchangeably since I'm speaking for the both of us. Creating "The Moldy Escape" was an idea that came to me one day, which lead to us building and bringing it to life together as a team.I strongly believe transparency is a common courtesy that should always be available whenever anyone is asking for money, aid, or help of some kind from others; and that is why this exists!

The Mold:

The first visible signs of mold, that I noticed, began in 2018. However the story begins much earlier than that.
We have lived in this house for over 20 years, and in that time a lot of water damage has stacked up:1. The washing machine has flooded the laundry room, hall, and a bit of the carpeted living room 3 times (yes, the same washing machine).
2. The fireplace chimney leaked every time it rained for 20 years until fixed early 2025.
3. Our AC/HVAC unit has leaked and flooded water beneath it around 7 times (more wet carpet around it), most of those times water sat for days before drying.
4. Our roof and skylights leaked for who knows how many years, unnoticed, until replaced in early 2025.
5. The bathroom ceiling has shown water damage for as long as I can remember.
6. The shower tiles have been letting water into the walls for at least 15 years (shower tiles should be resealed with grout about once a year to keep the grout from absorbing moisture, but we've never had that done).
7. The kitchen sink had a bad leak back in 2018 and mold started visibly growing in the walls.
8. The outer walls of our home have been slowly rotting for years─ whenever it rains the house becomes super humid, sometimes reaching 70% humidity in-doors during the summer.In January 2023 an absolutely nauseating, sicking and undeniable moldy smell started creeping in through the living room fireplace. I was met with gaslighting and denial from my parents, because "they didn't smell anything". Reluctantly, they agreed to use cardboard to block up the fireplace doors after much pestering. And that helped, for a little bit.
Come summer, the smell was so bad neither my brother nor I could sit in the living room without a beeswax candle burning (which our mother harassed us about multiple times a day, declaring it was "wasteful to burn it so much" because it was "too expensive" to replace. Now, imagine how hard it was to convince my parents to invest in a $100 air purifier... I had to withstand extreme amounts of gaslighting and berating from both parents before they finally agreed because the smell became undeniable to them).Mid summer of 2024 was when all hell broke loose regarding the mold:
- The entire house started smelling so strongly of mold that all of us began wearing N95 masks anytime we had to use the bathroom, be in the living room or kitchen, etc. Only then did our parents, very reluctantly, cave in and bought 3 more air purifiers (kicking and screaming every chance they got).
- I stopped being able to eat solid foods, and could only get down smoothies/shakes. Severe pain. Skin issues. Gut issues. Hormone issues. Bouts of uncontrollable shaking and anxiety. Breathing issues. Hair loss. Bedridden with crippling fatigue; it's nearly impossible to explain what chronic fatigue is like if you've never personally experienced it yourself, because no amount of sleep nor rest improves the exhaustion. Basic every day tasks are enough to zap and consume your energy.
- My brother has had very similar symptoms, some a bit less severe than mine, while others equally debilitating. Which is very alarming, due to the fact that males are usually less affected by mold than females.
- 3 of my 6 birds died as result of the mold.
- My dog became extremely sick, I've nearly lost her so many times, with multiple situations where she refused to eat or drink water willingly for weeks. Yeast started taking over her skin with uncontrollable itchiness, eczema, chronic skin and ear infections. Along with debilitating anxiety and neurological issues─ just to name a few.And did our parents do anything to actually deal with the mold? Nope. What's even worse than that? To this day they continue to neglect, gaslight, belittle, and deny everything. They are fully aware of everything my brother, my pets, and myself have gone through and faced, yet do nothing to take any form of action.We HAVE to get out, NOW.
The condition of this moldy house has been uninhabitable for 2 years, and I can tell we cannot sustain living through another hot and humid Florida summer based on how our bodies are responding to the 80-90° weather.Oh, and I feel it's important to note that I just recently learned the house we lived in before this one (my childhood house) was also overrun with mold, to the point where it was completely gutted by its new owners...yeah.

The Abuse:

Courtesy trigger warning for the following:
- Verbal, Physical and Financial abuse
- Medical and Educational neglectThese topics are only lightly mentioned, no disturbing details are given.

TL;DR:1. Our mother is an abusive covert narcissist obsessed with controlling our adult lives
2. We've never been allowed personal autonomy, ever
3. Our health has been ignored our whole lives, and the debilitating chronic health issues we face were caused by their neglect
4. If we want to maintain the financial support we need from our parents to stay alive, we have comply to their rules
5. We were physically abused by our mother as children, and she has continued to verbally, medically and financially abuse us
6. Our mother actively refuses to gives us access to our bank/savings accounts (created for us as teens), and takes from them as she pleases
7. Both parents demand to know about everything we purchase with our personal money, often opening our mail without asking to find out
8. Friends and extended family either can't or won't help us

If you personally find any of these topics too heavy, you're more than welcome to skip to the next page:

Everything has always been about maintaining control and appearing perfect to the outside world with our parents. We have never been allowed to consider being our own person, even now as adults.Personal autonomy and exploring anything beyond our parents personal perspectives, beliefs, opinions, etc is blasphemy/disrespectful and WILL result in anything ranging from emotional explosions, screaming, threats, berating, and verbal oppression (as children, until 12 years old, we were spanked/beaten into submission) anytime we "step out of line" or whenever they feel "challenged".Our mother fundamentally believes she is always right and has to have the final say on everything; even down to petty and unimportant details like the exact minute something happened. She cannot and will not self-reflect nor take accountability for her actions and short comings. Instead of apologizing, she makes infinite excuses for even the most obvious mistakes.
Meanwhile our father follows her lead, backing up and "defending" her blindly; she controls him too, honestly.From a very young age it was sternly enforced that we were not to tell anyone certain things about our family dynamic; our mother used the fear tactic of, "Child protective services will take you both away from mommy and daddy if you do! So don't tell anyone because they'll just misunderstand," to keep us from speaking up about anything. Our parents have created and sustained the perfect illusion that we're a totally normal and healthy family to be envied, and everyone who knows us (including our family and friends) all fully believe they are wonderful people.
Things get ugly fast if we ever tell anyone anything that breaks their perfect illusion, which includes mentioning the mold crisis.Anything that causes our mother to feel like she's losing control over something is a threat to her very existence. To simply say that she she is a control freak would be a massive understatement, so I'll give 3 big examples:
- We were never taught nor allowed the chance to get our drivers licenses.
- Our mother actively refuses to gives us access to the bank/savings accounts our parents set up for us when we were teens, and I know for a fact she has taken money from my personal savings account for their own use without asking me
- They demand to know about everything we purchase, whether physical or digital, even if bought with what little personal money we have. Often to the point where they open our mail without asking to find out.
We, quite literally, have always lived in her cage of control.Speaking of money, let's touch on that topic:
Money is their God.
Our parents have been drowning in debt for as long as I can remember. How much debt? We don't know, they refuse to tell us or even give a ballpark number. Our father works a well-paying, full-time job with long hours. But our mother? She has always sat at her computer disassociating and escaping all day long, getting absolutely nothing done while the debt and her to-do lists pile up higher and higher.
And when I say drowning in debt, I mean there is never enough to make ends meet and all we have ever known is poverty and lack. My brother and I have no idea where all the money goes, nor will they admit to anything, but what I have figured out is they are terrible at managing money and budgeting their spending.I have the perfect example for you:
Mid last year our family vehicle finally gave out after close to 25 years of serving us well, despite only doing maintenance on it when something was about to completely give out. Instead of buying a used vehicle at a reasonable price, my parents didn't even blink twice before spending $38,000 on a vehicle we couldn't afford, further piling up debt.
Meanwhile, for contrast, spending $2,000 on a professional mold assessor is unreasonable in their minds and they refuse despite our worsening condition due to the mold.This is a repeating pattern from our parents:
If there's something they need or want for themselves, it's bought without hesitation (and, as of recently, they've begun trying to hide it from us so we wouldn't know).
However if it's something we need, they try gaslighting and guilt-tripping us into oblivion; sometimes we get what we need, other times they refuse. And even though they have given us absolutely no other choice but to be fully dependent on them financially, they continue to fight us over basic needs such as medical care, foods we can actually eat due to our health issues, etc.But, then again, our health issues going ignored and neglected is nothing new; it's been this way for over 15 years.
Becoming bedridden overnight from excruciating pain, with panic attacks lasting all day, would have caused any sane parents to rush their teenager to the ER. But our parents? "You just need to drink more water and go on daily walks, that'll fix it".
Yeah, that's the type of neglect and denial we've dealt with our whole lives.
I've personally had so many health scares I cannot even remember them all, it blurs together, with multiple situations where I felt like I was dying, yet they didn't care and I was left to suffer alone.
And while I haven't been professionally diagnosed, I have very clear symptoms matching MCAS, CIRS, POTS, ME/CFS and a few other chronic illnesses.
Mind you, all the while being made to feel by my parents that I'm crazy, overly dramatic or making all this up.Ironically enough, I have always felt like I'm the parent to my parents: They expect me to carry the burdens of their choices, roping me into their problems and wanting me to fix everything for them. And of course, offloading their shame and guilt onto my shoulders as well.
All while they refuse to return the favor, leaving me to fend for myself in the very limited ways I'm able to.And this isn't even half of it.I may not be a parent, but I genuinely cannot comprehend how our parents can live with themselves when they treat their own children like this.
I treat my pets, which many would say are "just animals", infinitely better than my parents have ever treated me. I would NEVER dream of abusing, neglecting nor treating my beloved pets the way our parents do us.

Ways To Help:

1. If you're able to help support us financially, then check out our Throne, which is a privacy-first wishlist that allows people to send us gifts without sharing any personal information! All the items you will find on our Throne are things we need, but cannot afford. Genuinely every dollar helps because Throne has the option for wishlist items to be crowdfunded (like GoFundMe).2. If supporting us financially isn't possible (which we totally understand), then following us on our socials and helping boost our engagement by watching videos all the way through, saving, sharing, commenting on and liking our posts would be hugely appreciated! By helping boost our engagement, the algorithm will push our content out to reach more people!
Our follower goals for social media is:
- Reach 100 followers on TikTok
- Reach 10k followers on TikTok (unlocks monetization)
- Reach 10k followers on Instagram (unlocks monetization)3. If you're a brand or company that would be interested in collaborating with us, our email is: [email protected]

We absolutely hate living in this cage of being fully dependent on our parents financially, and want more than anything to be free. We're currently trying to figure out if there's a safe way for us to step over our parents and find somewhere else to stay, so we can get out of this moldy house.The reason why we don't have a GoFundMe set up is because that requires a bank account, and we cannot open a new one without our parents finding out; because if they were to find out, all hell would break lose and we would be in danger.
Why not use PayPal or Venmo directly?
Because there's a loophole that malicious people can exploit to create hundreds of dollars worth in chargeback fees; it isn't worth the risk for us.Once we're able to find a way to safely put money somewhere our mother cannot reach, our goal is to get into the creator programs for Instagram and TikTok and start earning a little bit of income that way.Until then we just need people who are willing to link arms with us and help get us on our feet; if we can just get out of this moldy house, we would be able to do more than just trying to survive each day.And I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to read all of this; it means more to us than we could ever explain! ♥