Stepping Stones to a bright future for my family

Okay y’all… this is a difficult post for me to make, but I’m asking for help because my children and I have reached a point where we truly need it.

Over the past year, we have been quietly rebuilding our lives after leaving 13 years of abuse, including financial abuse.

When we left, my children, our pets, and I had only what we could fit into my car and about $50 to our name. We lost nearly everything in the transition.

But we kept going.

Despite everything we had been through, we managed to get ourselves into a home in a new state in less than five months. I have worked hard to rebuild our lives from the ground up. I obtained my business license and have spent the past several months slowly gathering the supplies and resources we need to begin building sustainable income for our family.

🌱 We have a plan to rebuild through our own work.

My goal has never been to simply survive on assistance or donations.

I want to become financially independent and build a stable future for my children.

We have several plans for creating multiple sources of income for our family.

My plan is to restart Skellertyns Apothecary, the small apothecary business I have been building, with products such as handmade body products, herbal preparations, tinctures, salves, and other handmade goods.

My son is also planning to start a cottage foods business from home, creating another potential source of income for our family.

We were planning to establish a large garden that could both help feed our family and eventually provide produce and other goods we could sell.

We also planned to start growing microgreens, giving us another small-scale source of food and income.

And alongside all of those plans, my son and I are planning to work online in customer service/customer-care positions while we build our other businesses.

The goal is to have dependable employment income coming in while we slowly build the apothecary, cottage foods, garden, and microgreens businesses into additional sources of income.

We aren't looking for a handout so we can stay where we are. We're asking for help getting to a place where we can actually rebuild.

🏠 Unfortunately, our current rental has become a major obstacle.

We discovered significant mold problems throughout the rental, and there are also serious concerns surrounding the condition of the property and materials and pest-control products around the home (specifically arsenic and rat poison from what I've bee told).

Our yard has not been a place where I feel comfortable allowing my children to freely play, and the condition of the property has made it difficult to move forward with the garden and food-growing plans we had hoped would help support our family.

The mold issue has also made our home an unsuitable environment for producing the apothecary and body products I had planned to make.

At the same time, my family has been dealing with ongoing health problems and multiple emergency-room visits. I cannot say that the home is responsible for every health issue we have experienced, but the conditions here have made me deeply concerned about our family's well-being.

Our landlord has not been willing to adequately address the problems, and when I reached out for help, I was essentially told that we should consider ourselves fortunate to have a rental at all.

I don't want to spend another winter here.

💚 We don't want to invest in making this rental our permanent home.

One of the things we need in order for my son and me to work online is reliable high-speed internet.

We could potentially spend money installing long-term services and infrastructure here, but I don't want to put more money into establishing ourselves in a home that we are actively trying to leave.

Our priority is to put those resources toward getting somewhere healthier and more affordable instead.

Once we have a safer place to live, we can establish the internet service and work setup we need there and begin building our employment income.

🏡 Our goal is to get our family somewhere safer.

We are looking at whatever realistic option can give my children and me a healthier and more affordable place to live — whether that means:

A safer, more affordable rental

An RV placed on safe land

A small home or other stable housing option

Moving expenses and deposits

A place where we can safely garden and grow food

A place where I can safely restart my apothecary

A home environment where my son can begin his cottage-food plans

Space where we can grow microgreens

Reliable internet so my son and I can work remotely

Basic necessities required to make the transition

We aren't looking for luxury. We're looking for a safe place to rebuild.

🚙 Getting our transportation back on the road is the first step.

Because of circumstances caused by my former partner, my driver's license was suspended. I had never been pulled over, ticketed, or involved in an accident. The suspension stemmed from vehicles he sold in my name that were not properly handled afterward.

After fighting through that process, I finally got my driver's license back! 🙏❤️

That was a huge step forward for our family.

Now I need help getting our Ford Explorer fully legal, insured, reliable, and safe enough to get us through this next chapter.

Our immediate transportation needs include:

Title, registration, and Oregon plates

Auto insurance

New tires suitable for wet roads and winter conditions

Replacing belts

Repairing a frozen pulley

Having the transmission properly inspected and serviced

Other necessary safety repairs that may be discovered

🔑 Why transportation and housing are connected

This isn't simply about fixing a vehicle.

Reliable transportation would allow me to:

Get my children to the appointments and services they need

Get groceries and necessities

Continue rebuilding my business

Pursue employment opportunities

Handle housing applications and appointments

Move our belongings if we find safer housing

Transport supplies for our businesses

Get our family out of this rental

Get to work and other opportunities

And, most importantly, give us the ability to keep moving forward

Once we have transportation and a safe place to live, my son and I can establish reliable internet and begin working online in customer care while continuing to build our other income sources.

Then we can work toward turning our other plans into reality:

🌿 Skellertyns Apothecary — herbal products, body products, tinctures, salves, and other handmade goods.

🥖 Cottage Foods — my son's plan to create a small home-based food business.

🌱 Family Garden — growing food to feed our family while creating produce and products we can potentially sell.

🌿 Microgreens — another small-scale growing project that can provide both food and income.

💻 Remote Customer Care — my son and I working online to create dependable employment income while these businesses grow.

These aren't just ideas we're dreaming about someday.

These are the pieces of the plan we have been working toward to rebuild our family's financial independence.

🎯 Our initial fundraising goal: $15,000

I originally considered setting our goal at $10,000, but after looking honestly at everything we need to accomplish, I realized that would likely only cover the immediate transportation needs and leave very little for the actual move.

Our initial goal is now $15,000.

This will allow us to work toward:

🚙 Stage 1 — Get Mobile

Get our Ford Explorer legal, insured, safe, and reliable enough to transport our family and belongings.

🏡 Stage 2 — Get Out

Put money toward deposits, moving expenses, an RV/land option or healthier rental, storage, and the basic necessities involved in relocating.

💻 Stage 3 — Start Working

Once we're somewhere healthier and more stable, establish the internet and basic work setup my son and I need to begin working remotely in customer care.

🌱 Stage 4 — Rebuild Our Businesses

Restart Skellertyns Apothecary, launch the cottage-food business, establish our garden, and begin growing microgreens.

The goal is not simply to get us out of one rental. The goal is to get us somewhere we can actually stay stable, work, grow food, build businesses, and become financially independent.

The $15,000 goal will help us address our immediate transportation needs while giving us a realistic opportunity to begin the housing transition.

If we reach our goal, any funds remaining after the immediate vehicle needs will go toward getting us into safer, more affordable housing and establishing the foundation we need to work and rebuild our businesses.

If unexpected vehicle repairs or housing expenses arise during the transition, funds may also help cover those necessities.

Every dollar brings us one step closer to getting out of this situation and getting back to building our future.

🙏 If you can help…

If you're able to donate, any amount truly helps. Even $5 or $10 gets us closer to our goal.

If you can't donate, please consider sharing this fundraiser. A share can reach someone who is able to help, and that can be just as valuable.

Direct donations are also welcome:

Cash App: $KatNQ

Venmo: @danica-serene

PayPal: chattingwithdanica@gmail.com

Zelle skellertyns@gmail.com

I know there are so many people struggling right now, and asking for help is incredibly difficult for me.

But I am choosing to believe that accepting help when we need it isn't failure.

It is another step toward rebuilding.

We have already survived the hardest part.

Now we're trying to build something better.

A safe home.

Reliable transportation.

Steady employment.

A garden that can feed our family.

Businesses we can build with our own hands.

A healthier environment for my children.

And a future where we aren't constantly living in survival mode.

We don't just want help surviving. We want the chance to rebuild.

From surviving to thriving. ❤️🙏💚

Thank you for taking the time to read our story, for believing in us, for sharing, donating, praying, encouraging, or simply taking the time to care.