16 & Pregnant’s Autumn Crittendon asks viewers to help fund home repairs

Like many teen moms, 16 & Pregnant‘s Autumn Crittendon is struggling to make ends meet.

Autumn recently found herself in some dire straits when the family’s heating unit went out in the middle of the Virginia winter. Seeking to improve son Drake’s living conditions, she launched a GoFundMe page on Sunday to ask for donations.

“We are having a hard time paying bills and making ends meet and now we found out that the unit is broken. We cannot afford to have a new one put in,” Autumn said, explaining a new unit costs $2,000 and an additional $1,000 to install. “We are currently running a space heater and the heater every once in awhile. We have already tried to seal the windows to keep the cold out.”

Autumn lives with her sister Misty, who is also a teen mom, while serving as the primary caregiver for her son, Drake. (16 & Pregnant fans will probably remember Autumn’s ex-boyfriend Dustin, if only because of his famous orange hat.)

Autumn added she is issuing the plea in an effort to improve living conditions for her son, who was hospitalized for a breathing condition in the past.

“If we didn’t need the help we would not be asking for it. We are currently trying to fix the leaky roof, the windows, and other issues that have occurred lately,” Autumn said. “We just want to make our house as safe as possible for Drake. Thanks again for all your help and prayers.”

After posting a link to the GoFundMe page on her Facebook, some commented that Autumn should use her MTV money or get a job to take care of herself. The Facebook admin responded that it isn’t that easy…

“For those saying get a job. They have one but the AC unit replacement is a little pricey! They would not ask for help if they didn’t really need it. Its sad that you all can simply post rude comments about her asking for help,” the administrator said. “She may have been on tv but I can promise you she didn’t make anywhere near the amount you all think she did and that was last year.”

The Ashley’s Reality Roundup, who originally noticed the plea and is an expert in all things 16 & Pregnant, confirmed Autumn and the other moms only make a small amount of money shortly after their episodes — which likely goes pretty fast when they have to care for their kids.

So far, two sympathetic fans have donated $70 toward the $3,500 goal.