Hi, my name is Virginia. I know Stephanie through our kids, and I live in her physical community. Late last year, Stephanie was diagnosed with stomach cancer, and she has gone through four rough rounds of chemo already. Now, she is facing surgery to remove most/all of her stomach and several lymph nodes.

Stephanie is incredibly strong, and she has worked throughout most of her treatment so far. But as a single parent to two amazing girls, she is stretched thin, and her financial situation is becoming tenuous. She already has exhausted her paid days off and her savings. She's struggling to deal with the growing mountain of medical expenses, as well as just making rent and keeping food on the table.

Stephanie needs support from us, her community. That's what communities are for - harnessing our collective power to take care of each other, especially when times are rough.

We are raising money for Stephanie to support herself through this crisis - money she can use to take care of everyday living, for rent, for lost work time .... all those things that our institutional system of care is too frayed to support. All the donations will go straight to her to use as she needs.

If you ask Stephanie whether she needs help, she probably will tell you that she'll be OK, but it's her girls she's worried about. Please consider giving whatever you can, so that Stephanie and her girls have a little less to worry about right now.