Hello everyone my name is Danielle, asking for help is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but today I'm choosing to set my pride aside because my family truly needs it. My greatest purpose in life is my children, and I have been doing everything I can to keep us going despite one hardship after another. We recently moved to a new state hoping for a fresh start and a better future. Instead, we've faced challenge after challenge while trying to find our way. I've reached out to countless local organizations and community resources for assistance, but I've repeatedly been told there is no funding available or that they are unable to help. As the school year approaches, one of my biggest concerns is making sure my children have clothing and shoes so they can walk into school feeling confident and prepared. Every child deserves that opportunity, and I am asking for help to make that possible. At the same time, I have been trying to regain my focus while my mental health has been declining under the weight of everything we have experienced. Even on the hardest days, I continue to get up, go to work, and do everything I can because my children are depending on me. We are also being forced to leave the place we currently live and are desperately trying to move into a larger, safer space where we can finally have some stability. Unfortunately, saving enough for moving expenses has felt impossible because every dollar goes toward surviving day to day. One of the biggest financial burdens has been our utility bills. I recently discovered that we appear to be paying for more than just our own usage, causing our bills to be much higher than we can afford. On top of that, we have experienced people taking advantage of us, stealing from us,and using us making an already difficult situation even harder. Transportation has also been a daily struggle. I rely on public transportation to get everywhere, including work, but the buses in our area stop running early in the evening and are often unreliable. Getting to work, appointments, stores, and anywhere else has become a constant challenge. We also experienced another heartbreaking loss. When we could no longer afford the monthly fee for our storage unit, we trusted someone to keep our belongings safe until we got back on our feet. Instead, we lost everything we had. Furniture, pictures, awards, trophies, household items, literally everything was gone. Starting over from nothing has been incredibly painful. Our family has also experienced tremendous personal loss. I don't have my parents to lean on, and my children's father has passed away. Their grandmother on their father's side has also passed away. We don't have the family support system that many people are blessed to have, so it's just me doing everything I can to keep us together. Despite everything we've been through, I still believe in helping others whenever I can. Even when I have very little, I've always tried to give what I could because I believe kindness matters. That's why it's been so difficult to find ourselves in a position where we have to ask for help. We have often been met with empty promises or told that help is coming, only to find ourselves facing these struggles alone. Today, I'm choosing hope. I'm choosing to believe there are compassionate people who understand that sometimes good people fall on difficult times. More than anything, I want my children to know that asking for help isn't something to be ashamed of and that there are still people in this world who genuinely care about others. Any donation, no matter the amount, will go toward helping us provide clothing and shoes for back to school, secure a safe place to live, cover moving expenses, meet basic household needs, and continue rebuilding our lives after losing nearly everything we owned. If you're unable to donate, sharing our fundraiser, keeping us in your prayers, or simply offering words of encouragement would mean more than you know. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking the time to read our story. Thank you for believing in our family and for reminding my children and me that we are not alone. Your kindness gives us hope for a brighter tomorrow.