San Antonio native Noah Grey, pictured above, invented the internet’s first open-source blogging site. Greymatter later served as the inspiration behind platforms such as WordPress. Credit: Twitter / Noah Grey

Noah Grey — a San Antonio native credited with creating one of the internet’s earliest blogging sites — will likely avoid foreclosure on his home after raising more than $105,000 through a GoFundMe campaign.

Grey launched the blogging platform Greymatter in 2000. The world’s first open-source blogging site would go on to inspire the creation of WordPress, whose code now powers 40% of all the internet’s websites, the Express-News reports.

Despite his online bonafides, Grey said in a Friday post that he needed $35,000 by Tuesday, May 3 or else he’d lose his home to foreclosure.

Grey is disabled and has autism. He and his sister, who serves as his caretaker, had been living off of his disability checks as their sole source of income after his mother died two years ago, he wrote on his GoFundMe page.

“I am begging. I’m pleading,” he said. “I can’t endure this. I can’t. I would not be here to write this without my home and without my sister.”

It appears that Grey’s pleas have been heard.

Internet entrepreneur Anil Dash and bloggers including Joshua Benton took to Twitter to raise awareness about Grey’s situation.

In only three days, Grey’s GoFundMe raised more than $105,000. As of press time, Grey hadn’t yet informed the public whether he and his sister successfully staved off their pending eviction.

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This article appears in Apr 20 – May 3, 2022.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...