Last November, our lives changed completely. After losing the home we had lived in for three years, everything we owned was packed into a storage unit or reduced to what we could carry with us. Overnight, our entire life was narrowed down to a single hotel room filled with crates, two dogs in cages, my mother, and me.

I am my mother’s caregiver, and at the time I was unemployed, so we had no steady income coming in besides her Social Security check — money that was already gone before it even arrived because of basic survival expenses like food, medication, hotel costs, and transportation.

Around Christmas, after weeks of instability and desperation following the loss of our home, we were forced to stay with someone we knew because we had nowhere else to go. Instead of finding safety, we found ourselves trapped in an emotionally exhausting and psychologically harmful environment. The situation became overwhelming, and we later learned disturbing information about this individual involving allegations of inappropriate behavior toward children. The fear, stress, and instability pushed us to leave and continue struggling on our own despite having nowhere safe to turn.

We struggled constantly just trying to keep a roof over our heads by moving from one hotel room to another. During that time, we fell behind and eventually lost our storage unit, which meant losing nearly everything we had left. Even more heartbreaking, I discovered that somewhere in everything we lost were my Nana’s ashes and my dad’s ashes — things that can never be replaced.

Things became even worse when we were suddenly kicked out of a hotel room that I had prepaid for two weeks. We were told our dogs had caused damage to the toilet that led to water leaking downstairs. Despite the fact that I had spent a great deal of money there over time and built up reward points through the hotel, we were never reimbursed for the prepaid stay. With nowhere else to go, my mother and I ended up on the street for several days.

Before losing the room, I stepped on a piece of glass and seriously injured my foot. After losing the room, I spent two days walking around outside trying to keep us safe and find help, which eventually led to severe problems with my foot. The damage became so serious that I ultimately had to undergo surgery. . Losing Medicaid made everything even harder because I was already struggling to survive day to day. Without stable housing, transportation, or support, it became difficult to keep up with medical care, paperwork, and recovery after surgery. The stress of being homeless while dealing with a painful injury and medical treatment affected every part of my life.I have been trying to recover physically, emotionally, and financially from everything that happened at once. What started as losing my coverage quickly turned into losing my shelter, my belongings, and my sense of security.

One of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make was giving up our dogs because we simply could not keep them safe while trying to survive ourselves. Losing them broke my heart, but at the time we had no other choice.

Since then, we have been trying to rebuild while carrying the emotional and financial weight of everything we have lost. I am asking for help so we can find stable housing, care for my mother, and begin putting our lives back together after months of hardship, loss, and uncertainty.

Any donation, share, or kind word truly means more than I can express. Thank you for taking the time to read our story and for helping us through one of the hardest chapters of our lives.