05/01/2023
! Important EA update from Victoria's Children !
Hello Evergreen Academy Family,
My name is Rachael Lierheimer. I used to work at Evergreen Academy along with my sister, Faith Lierheimer. It’s been several years since we’ve worked at the Academy, but we remember your children fondly and hold Evergreen Academy near and dear to our hearts. I’m writing, with my siblings, to give you a more complete picture about what has been happening behind the scenes at the Academy for several months.
Our mother Victoria has been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Leptomeningitis, or rheumatoid arthritis that attacks the brain. The diagnostic process was long and grueling, stretching over many months since August 2022. It included two invasive brain surgeries, countless hospitalizations, ER visits, and a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to consult with doctors specializing in rare and obscure diseases. This disease has been diagnosed a total of 30 times in the US. It’s vanishingly rare. Because of that, we know next to nothing about the prognosis, nor any treatments. We’d like to walk you through how quickly this disease has progressed.
Last May 2022, my mom and I (Rachael) ran the Bolder Boulder 10k. June 2022, a month later, we celebrated her 58th birthday at the Renaissance Faire in southern Colorado. Later that year, she had plans to go see my brother in New Zealand and hike. Now, April 2023, she needs the assistance of two carers to transfer from her wheelchair to her bed and communicates mostly in gestures, not words.
This has been an incredibly hard transition for us as a family. We watched our dad, Chris Lierheimer, die of colon cancer when we were children, and he was in his early 40’s.
As our mother’s sickness progressed since last summer, we were continually in talks of how to preserve our parent’s legacy as the sole founders and owners of Evergreen Academy.
In January 2023, my brother, Christopher, met with Philip Reimers of Evergreen Lutheran Church of the Cross: Evergreen, Colorado, and members of Evergreen Academy staff. Part of the proposed, not legally finalized transition, was transferring funds from business accounts, controlled by Victoria, to new accounts held by the church. After that meeting, Christopher wrote several checks to the church to begin that transition.
Prior to this meeting, and upon legal counsel, Christopher brought up the idea of paying Victoria, the founder, a modest severance package in line with recommendations from a business attorney. Philip Reimers and the church refused. After the January meeting, Christopher, again, brought up the idea of paying Victoria a nominal amount for her life’s work building and growing this valuable community asset. Again, the Church of the Cross: Evergreen, Colorado refused. Despite the church’s objections, in March, Christopher began disbursing the retirement funds over a six month time frame to ensure there wouldn’t be undue burden on the schools finances.
The church and Pastor Philip stopped responding to our emails after February 23, 2023. In late April 2023, Christopher received a notification of suspicious activity related to Victoria’s Evergreen Academy business accounts, and they were subsequently closed by the bank. As a direct result of the account closings, Christopher, the legal conservator, was cut off from accessing her personal and business accounts online. This placed an immediate and urgent burden on us, as we could no longer access her personal accounts to pay for her ongoing expenses. Cashier's checks containing the balance of the business accounts were picked up at the bank by someone from Evergreen Academy, who was not a signer on the business accounts.
It is frustrating that underhanded actions of someone associated with the Academy has caused these account closures, and risked the wellbeing of Victoria. We are disappointed that the Church leadership stopped communication with our family when we were trying to support the ongoing success of the Academy, while honoring Victoria’s hard work and legacy. The entire transition has felt purely transactional, as neither Pastor Philip nor the board members have visited Victoria once throughout her decline.
We are writing this letter to bring your awareness to the situation. You can support Victoria and her children in a few ways. You can reach out to us, her kids, if you would like to pray over Victoria in her time of need. You can insist, directly to Pastor Philip, that he honor Victoria's lifetime of service to Evergreen Academy, by paying her the remainder of her severance amount. This will directly help us pay for our mom’s highly specialized and ongoing care.
If you have any questions about Victoria, how to send care, support, messages, meals, etc. please email [email protected], which is monitored by her children.
If this situation frustrates you as much as it has us, we encourage you to make your concerns known to the church leadership, starting with Philip Reimers. You can email him at [email protected].
Our family has been incredibly lucky to have been a part of this incredible community for the last thirty years. We love you all, and we are so grateful for your ongoing love and support.
In love,
Rachael Lierheimer
Faith Lierheimer
Abi Lierheimer
Christopher Lierheimer
