My name is Monique, and I'm a mom of eight children here in Modesto, California — including twin 3-year-olds with medical needs and a young son with severe asthma.
In July, I was wrongfully terminated from my job after being falsely accused of something I did not do. I lost my income overnight. I'm fighting it — my unemployment appeal is open with the state, and an employment attorney is handling my case — but appeals take months, and my bills didn't stop.
Since then, I've done everything the system asked of me. I've called every housing program I could find in Stanislaus County, and I'm connected with a county support program. I even contacted my state Assembly and Senate offices — they're trying to help me, but so far every resource they've found is one I've already used or don't qualify for. I've also entered contests for mothers that offer help with rent and utilities, and I applied for a grant — I didn't win the contests, and the grant doesn't announce its results until the end of December, which will be too late for this. And this week I was hired for a new job that starts next week — 30 hours a week. I am not sitting still. But the gap between losing my job in July and my first paychecks is where we are right now.
My landlord has served me a three-day notice and is talking about eviction. We're in communication and I'm working hard to stay. I was able to borrow $400 to slow the eviction down by a few more days, but that only buys a little time — I still owe back rent, and my electric bill with MID is $606.75 past due. My power was shut off on October 19, four days ago, and it's still off — all the food in my refrigerator and freezer has gone bad, and we don't have hot water either, because my water heater runs on electricity. I would have been doing DoorDash, Lyft, or Uber Eats deliveries in the meantime to bring in some money — but one of my kids dropped my car key fob in a cup of water, and it doesn't work anymore. I've called every locksmith in Stanislaus County and none of them has the right programmer for my car's key; the only option left is the dealership, and that's six hundred and something dollars, almost $700, which I don't have. So I have no working car right now either, which makes everything harder with eight kids.
I'm asking for help to cover the back rent and keep this home while my new job starts and my case moves forward. Every dollar goes to keeping a roof over my children.
One last thing: you won't see my face clearly in my photo, and I'm sorry for that. I'm honestly just embarrassed to be in this position and to have to ask. If you can't give, a prayer and a share mean just as much. Thank you for reading our story.
