Please Help Save Our Family
[updated by Rose Dec 17 2016]
I know this is long but PLEASE READ it, this is the edited version (full version posted as an update for anyone who wants to read it) Iknow its a long read but we couldnt describe the enormaty and severety of the situation with any less words.
We are a family in desperate need. We're not a very traditional family, nor are we accustomed to asking for help, but the walls are closing in and we need the help of the community. We were evicted from out home several months ago and have been living in cars in the freezing cold ever since.
Our family consists of Kelly, a genius computer engineer capable of just about anything involved in the tech industry; myself, Rose, a self-taught mechanical/electrical engineer with severe emotional issues; Ben, a writer and editor whom takes care of the others; and Alex, a fashion student in university. The four of us have only ever been able to have a good, satisfying life since coming together. We all are either ADD or ADHD, and Kelly and I (both transgendered) are very prone to panic attacks. Being homeless has also had severe impacts on our health due to the cold and lack of sleep, plus our weak immunt systems.
Kelly came out to Silicon Valley with dreams of finally having an environment that she could thrive in. Socially she's very awkward and one by one the jobs turned her away. Finally, during a job search, she was sought out by Apple.
Apple told her they gathered troubled geniuses together, gave them the environment they could thrive in, and enabled them to create the amazing things they dreamed of. And it was the happiest she had ever been in a job! But internal politics were hounding her, forcing her into conflicts and out of projects when all she was doing was trying to make something great.
One day she was feeling extremely panicked and asked for a day off for her psychological health. At first they said yes, but then they changed their minds. They threatened to fire her if she didn't come in. Then, when she had a severe anxiety attack, she went to HR. And HR called the police instead of an ambulance.
Kelly tried to explain what was happening, but the police didn't want to hear it. In frustration and fear, she threw her phone into the wall, and the police charged her with assault with a deadly weapon on an officer..for being scared.
The charge was dropped, of course, because it was idiotic, but not before she was arrested, abused by the police, forced into a male prison and mocked for being transsexual, and denied any of her medication for days. Three grueling days later she was finally returned to us... And Apple promptly fired her for violence in the work place, for a charge that was dropped
Kelly's life was shattered. I had only in my whole life been happy for the three months I lived with them before the incident(I had recently left my abusive home of 18 years, and was still trying to put my life back together as it was), and was also left badly traumatized. Ben tried to hold the family together, but our panic attacks only grew worse and worse. He can't even work anymore: if he's away even a couple hours our panics can lead to destruction and injury. Alex is in danger of failing out of college due to the stress in the household. And month after month, it gets worse.
Despite this horrible situation, we are all still trying to do something positive. we're trying to start our own tech startup. I am able to help with simple tasks, but it's not enough. Nearly every friend and connection who was going to help our family never really delivered.
It's been OVER 16 months since the incident at Apple and we're still going. Kelly was 3D printing a revolutionary new 3D printer before we bacame homeless, that will enable her to make a revolutionary new kind of computer from our own home.
We aren't just looking for help making ends meet, but also with starting this company and building our inventions, and re-building our lives. We need a community that understands nothing great is accomplished alone, that geniuses can't handle so much of what the rest of us can, and that achieving dreams is worth the effort, especially when it's hard. But in order to achieve any of this we need a solid ground to stand on.
I know this is long but PLEASE READ it, this is the edited version (full version posted as an update for anyone who wants to read it) Iknow its a long read but we couldnt describe the enormaty and severety of the situation with any less words.
We are a family in desperate need. We're not a very traditional family, nor are we accustomed to asking for help, but the walls are closing in and we need the help of the community. We were evicted from out home several months ago and have been living in cars in the freezing cold ever since.
Our family consists of Kelly, a genius computer engineer capable of just about anything involved in the tech industry; myself, Rose, a self-taught mechanical/electrical engineer with severe emotional issues; Ben, a writer and editor whom takes care of the others; and Alex, a fashion student in university. The four of us have only ever been able to have a good, satisfying life since coming together. We all are either ADD or ADHD, and Kelly and I (both transgendered) are very prone to panic attacks. Being homeless has also had severe impacts on our health due to the cold and lack of sleep, plus our weak immunt systems.
Kelly came out to Silicon Valley with dreams of finally having an environment that she could thrive in. Socially she's very awkward and one by one the jobs turned her away. Finally, during a job search, she was sought out by Apple.
Apple told her they gathered troubled geniuses together, gave them the environment they could thrive in, and enabled them to create the amazing things they dreamed of. And it was the happiest she had ever been in a job! But internal politics were hounding her, forcing her into conflicts and out of projects when all she was doing was trying to make something great.
One day she was feeling extremely panicked and asked for a day off for her psychological health. At first they said yes, but then they changed their minds. They threatened to fire her if she didn't come in. Then, when she had a severe anxiety attack, she went to HR. And HR called the police instead of an ambulance.
Kelly tried to explain what was happening, but the police didn't want to hear it. In frustration and fear, she threw her phone into the wall, and the police charged her with assault with a deadly weapon on an officer..for being scared.
The charge was dropped, of course, because it was idiotic, but not before she was arrested, abused by the police, forced into a male prison and mocked for being transsexual, and denied any of her medication for days. Three grueling days later she was finally returned to us... And Apple promptly fired her for violence in the work place, for a charge that was dropped
Kelly's life was shattered. I had only in my whole life been happy for the three months I lived with them before the incident(I had recently left my abusive home of 18 years, and was still trying to put my life back together as it was), and was also left badly traumatized. Ben tried to hold the family together, but our panic attacks only grew worse and worse. He can't even work anymore: if he's away even a couple hours our panics can lead to destruction and injury. Alex is in danger of failing out of college due to the stress in the household. And month after month, it gets worse.
Despite this horrible situation, we are all still trying to do something positive. we're trying to start our own tech startup. I am able to help with simple tasks, but it's not enough. Nearly every friend and connection who was going to help our family never really delivered.
It's been OVER 16 months since the incident at Apple and we're still going. Kelly was 3D printing a revolutionary new 3D printer before we bacame homeless, that will enable her to make a revolutionary new kind of computer from our own home.
We aren't just looking for help making ends meet, but also with starting this company and building our inventions, and re-building our lives. We need a community that understands nothing great is accomplished alone, that geniuses can't handle so much of what the rest of us can, and that achieving dreams is worth the effort, especially when it's hard. But in order to achieve any of this we need a solid ground to stand on.
Organizer
Rose Moidel
Organizer
Fremont, CA