I am a 64 year old grandma who is in critical need to catch up on basic expenses after housing issues lasting for over a year and a half.
We live in California. A year and a half ago we lost our apartment due to no fault of my own. I have been raising my incredible sweet, respectful granddaughter who has special needs since she was a baby. I legally adopted her and it is just the two of us. She has a medical condition and High Functioning Autism and just turned 16 a couple of weeks ago.
I am so proud of this girl - she is so wise, wonderful and kind. We have home schooled due to extreme bullying at three different schools. She is a huge animal lover and has been horse crazy since she began therapeutic horse back riding for her physical disability (to strengthen core muscles) at the age of three. After being homeless and actively trying to get into an other apartment, I realized there is very little help out there. I was not progressing in finding an affordable rental.
One day, It was clear that I was getting nowhere. I needed to change our situation fast, especially with winter coming. I felt GOD speaking to my heart. I was embarrassed to put much info publicly about being homeless, and was afraid ppl would think I was a "bad mom". But suddenly I felt prompted to reach out to the horse community after I was a offered a small RV to borrow. The catch was that I had to find a place where we could have legit hook ups. This meant a Mobile Home Park or Property that would allow hookups. And could pay the rent and any deposits. BUT it hit me...MY girl doesn't just want to be around horses. SHE NEEDS THEM. So that is when I decided to post on a local site to see if anyone with horse property might have a place for an RV with hookups.
An awesome gentleman responded to my post and instead of renting a lot for the RV, I ended up renting his cabin on his 40 acre ranch. Dakota chose her college at the age of 14 and she will be enrolling in an Equine Studies Program not very far from here in about 3 years! Mark, the land owner, trains Mustangs and Dakota is helping him with the 13 horses on the property and rides regularly, as well as helps care for the horses!!! This past weekend she help on the Crew for an Endurance Ride - The American River Classic. She soon plans to begin to learn and compete in Barrel Racing and we hope she can begin to qualify for doing her first Endurance Ride. She is beyond excited
We do not have much family - but he has taken her under his win and she is learning so much. I am extremely diligent about her safety and she is also very aware of being around "safe" people and has excellent intuition about ppl. And this gentleman is definitely safe. We are beyond blessed and excited to live in this beautiful piece of property surrounded by trees, wild life AND HORSES!!! We started a garden and were able to get some chicken who just began laying eggs! Dakota is finally living her dream.
BUT after being homeless for a longer period of time than we thought we'd be, I got very behind financially and the car we depended on broke down and I had to find another used car - I was able to buy it outright and have no payments. But am now having some significant car issues, including a need for heavier duty tries - I have had several flats due to the 2 1/2 mile dirt/rock road. When that happens we are stuck at home until we can get a repair on the tire. I was told at the tire shop that the tires I have are the cheapest they sell and are not meant for a road like ours. We are extremely rural and not having a car is NOT an option so I need to be able to get somethings to done with our car, besides just the tires.
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In the last two years my mother and my younger developmentally disabled sister (who I helped my own mother raise) both passed away and I have been grieving both of them, it has been emotionally taxing and everything has accumulated and made each thing harder to have the energy to deal with.
Additionally, I have had health issues which have left me concerned about my own longevity, tho not a terminal illness. Pain and at time extreme fatigue are an issue for me. AND am still paying off my adoption expenses.
As a result of all this, along with trying to get caught up on Dakota's doctor and therapy appointments, trying to keep our car functioning, I am struggling to catch up. Because I have not been able to catch up on everything I constant feel like I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. It is a scary feeling, as I want to keep this home of ours where Dakota feels so safe, is living her dream of riding horses and soon all her experience of living here will go right to her college major of Equine Studies!
We live a very simple life and we are off grid (thankfully do not have a gas or electric bill). I don't spend money for any vices or anything fancy. Dakota does have a wonderful service dog to help her access our community - but he is healthy and fairly low maintenance at this point. He does need a few things vet wise, but I am waiting to hear if there is a community organization that may help with that.
Other than trying to reestablish our household, we have a pretty basic budget. However we were treading water so long it is just really hard to get our budget stable and re-establish a new baseline because I am still pedaling so fast to catch up, but not making adequate progress.
This has caused a lot of sadness and fear. So once again the LORD spoke to my heart about reaching out when I woke up in tears this morning. We are no longer part of a faith community and due to the homelessness we became distanced from our regular circle of friends. I have very few family members left. AND I have an elderly sister to who I am also trying to assist. She is a recent amputee and was living in her car. Her amputation became infected and once healed they want to send her back to her car to stay I am trying to put a stop to that. The summer here get over 100 degrees on some days and if she goes back to her car she will not survive especially with a new amputation that keeps getting infected.
For Dakota's peace and stability I can't have her live with us .AND our cabin is only big enough for me and Dakota- thankfully Dakota does not need a big bedroom and we love our cabin. It is just right for the two of us.
When I prayed about it, a friend in another state had previously told me about this platform and has encouraged me to reach out on here for several months. So this morning when I woke up and was struggling with feeling alone and worried. I woke up in tears, as I have so much to do and just can't get caught up. I am overwhelmed - with trying to re-establish our home and constantly dealing with phone issues and transportation issues....this makes it hard to even get on top of everything so we can really finally settle in.
iWhen I woke up in tears, while my sweet girl still slept near me and the LORD prompted me to follow through with the advice of my friend who told me about Give Send GO.
So that is our story and I really need help! This has been such a long haul and if I can only get back to a baseline and get a foot hold and if I can have help to get back on track - I Know we will be in much better shape. Treading water for so long has worn this ol' lady out, I feel so hopeful tho that soon we can really relax and not have fear of losing our beautiful home and Dakota's new horse community of the four legged kind and their owners!
Any help we receive will be used to get us stabilized and would be SO APPRECIATED!!! Thank you for any donations you can give and also for any prayers you can send up!
