My name is Jobi. My father named me after Job in the Bible, not as a curse, but as a prophecy. I have lived that name fully, and I am still here.

I am a mother of four. Life pulled some of my children out of my reach during years when I was surviving, not thriving. I am not the same woman I was then. I am the mother now that I always meant to be, and I am fighting through every legal and personal barrier to close the distance between me and my kids.

Willow is starting high school this August. She has a learning disability and worked hard to earn A’s and B’s to get here. She is also a survivor. She has been through things no child should ever have to carry, things that have traumatized her in ways we are still healing together. I pay child support for Willow and I do it without hesitation because she is mine and I show up for her even when showing up costs me everything. She was alienated from me too, and getting her back has been one of the greatest fights and greatest gifts of my life.

Elijah is 17, and we are healing together slowly and honestly. Julian is 8 years old. He was taken from me when he was 4. Joliet has been kept from me since she was 2 and is now 10. They are the beats of my heart and the air that allows me to breathe. When I finally found my voice and said that enough was enough, that I would no longer accept abuse, my ex used their financial worth as a weapon to turn the legal system against me. They took my children as the price of my freedom. I have not stopped fighting for them and I never will.

Blake came back into my life and did exactly what he promised. What most people would not know is that he came back after 10 years, 10 years lost to a prison sentence for a conspiracy he had nothing to do with, blamed on him by the mother of his child with nothing but her words and no evidence. He survived that. He also survived losing the grandparents who raised him, the only family that ever truly claimed him. His father survived cancer. His mother never wanted anything to do with him. He has known abandonment and loss in ways that would have broken most people. He came out of all of it and built something anyway. He gave us stability, a roof, and showed up every single day. He earned Employee of the Month, outstanding performance reviews, and perfect attendance. Then a prostate condition began affecting his ability to meet the physical demands of his job. Despite everything he had proven, he was let go in a way that did not honor the company’s own policy. As if that were not enough, he was robbed of $5,000 by someone selling him a car. In a matter of weeks, everything we had built was gone. We are carrying the weight of that together now.

Without his income, we are on the edge of losing our home. If rent is not paid by the 1st, we will be evicted on the 5th. For about a year we had stable ground. This crisis hit fast and it has put us in a position we are fighting with everything we have to survive.

Right now we need rent, utilities, school clothes and supplies for Willow, my birth certificate and ID so I can access help and contribute again. My wallet was stolen, which has made every step harder and every door more difficult to open. We need legal support to fight for my children and address what followed me out of a life I survived.

I have dreams that deserve reality and no bridge to get there yet. Not random dreams, dreams that plant seeds and make growth somewhere in the world. I am building a concierge business because I know how to take care of people and I am ready to turn that into something sustainable. I am writing a memoir for my son Elijah because words are the one thing no circumstance can take from him. I am designing a coloring book for my autistic niece because she was born into circumstances that were not her fault, and I want to show her she is loved despite it all. These are not distractions. They are the reasons I am still fighting.

I am not asking to be rescued. I am asking for a hand while we fight to stay on our feet.

Every dollar goes directly to keeping this family together.

Goal: $3,500

Jobi