A Milton resident needs your help.
Many likely know Julie Rock. She ran a successful photography business in downtown Milton for many years, and she’s always been beacon of positivity around the community.
In 2020, Rock was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was right after the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down. You can imagine, not a great or easy time to be fighting cancer. That battle lasted for 16 long months, and ended with a party after it was announced that she was in remission.
The next year for her was about recovery. Rock says she had to work on strengthening her body after fighting cancer for as long as she did. In between treatments, she was even able to work a little bit; which meant her photography business was able to stay open. She actually credits the pandemic for saving her business because she was able to receive financial help as an entrepreneur from the government that otherwise wouldn’t have been available.
A year later, before a family trip to Prince Edward Island, Rock was told that her cancer had returned and was now in her brain. Instead of seeing the ocean and feeling the red sand beneath her feet, she was set to go into another surgery. Radiation followed, and Rock says she was heavily affected by the treatments this time around. It wasn’t until January where she started to get back some semblance of normalcy. That was until tests in June found the brain cancer had not only stuck around, but progressed to her liver as well.
With that new diagnoses, it was decided that Julie Rock Photography would close its Martin Street location, with the idea that she could work from home. In the few months since, Rock admits she hasn’t been able to work with the ongoing treatments.
Now, Rock and her family have been told that their landlords will be selling the home they’ve lived in for nine years.
The news not only follows Rock closing her own business, but her husband has also been off work dealing with his own illness. They’ve been paying less than $2000 for their three-bedroom home the last nine years, and now find themselves in a Milton rental market that nearly doubles that amount for a comparable unit.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CxV7DMFJhOF/
This isn’t a person looking for a handout. This isn’t a person who isn’t willing to put in the work to find a home; they’ve applied to every possible solution they can find. This is someone who has been priced out of a community that she considers home while cancer continues to affect her life.
She just wants to find someone who has the solution to her problem.
The family’s budget is $2000 a month. They would like a three-bedroom unit that could fit their needs, but are aware they can’t be picky. With Rock getting her treatment, and her children having grown up in the town, she’d like to stay in/near Milton. They have until December/January, when their home is expected to be sold.
If you have a solution, contact Julie Rock here. Even if you know someone who might know someone, it might be the answer they need.
A GoFundMe was also set up earlier this year. You can find that here.
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