A Family In Need

I am writing to you all today to compel you to please donate to a family in need. My dear friend Kimberly and her family have experienced a series of unfortunate events since the onset of COVID.

Many of you know Kimberly from growing up here in Marin County, and what a beautiful, strong person she is and how devastating the last few years have been. After finding herself as a single mother in her mid 20's and escaping a violent and volatile marriage, she found herself back in the Bay Area looking to start over and found herself back in Fairfax living with her mother, a retired school teacher.

Eventually, they moved back to their family home in Berkeley, CA, that operated as a family home and rented rooms to UC Berkeley students. At this point, she became the full-time caretaker for her aging, disabled mother and functioning landlord/manager of the property.

In 2015, she met her would-be husband, David, and they had a beautiful baby boy, Rye Lee, in 2018. As time went on, it started to become apparent that Rye was failing to meet important milestones and was soon diagnosed as being non-verbal autistic. Kimberly and David eagerly took it upon themselves to become his greatest advocates, seeking out the best resources available to help support him in his journey.

When COVID hit in 2020, Kimberly was laid off from her job in cosmetics, and shortly after that, her mother was diagnosed with advanced stage Cancer. With the shelter in place in effect, any remote learning becoming the norm, all the rooms that would have been rented by students were left empty, the few tenants they had left refused to pay rent due to the moratorium, and the house became a monthly expense to the young family with no alternatives but to eventually list the home for sale.

With David being from Florida, they decided a move across the country, closer to his family and friends, would be the best option for them moving forward. With her mother declining rapidly, they listed the home and started the long emotional process of cleaning and moving a house her family had occupied for generations and leaving behind the beautiful garden she had curated over COVID.

Shortly after they arrived in Florida, her mother took a turn for the worse. She soon passed away in the long-term hotel they were staying in while they looked for their new forever home. Only a few months later, she also lost her older sister to Breast Cancer. After watching the devastation of this terrible disease take her mother and sister, she decided to undergo elective surgery and have a double mastectomy.

After years of trying for another child together with no success, she was thrilled to find herself pregnant again with a baby boy, due July 2023. But now Kimberly finds herself bedridden in the hospital with no end in sight due to a condition called 'placental abruption .' Placental abruption occurs when the placenta partly or completely separates from the inner wall of the uterus before delivery. This can decrease or block the baby's supply of oxygen and nutrients and cause heavy bleeding in the mother.

As the primary breadwinner for her family with a baby on the way and a special needs child that requires regular therapy, she finds herself in the complicated place of not knowing where else to turn than friends and family. In the state of Florida, there are very few programs available to her and her family as they try to navigate the next few months of uncertainty. For example, she doesn't qualify for temporary disability because by the time she became 'eligible,' she was already pregnant, and any complications are now considered "pre-existing conditions."

It’s crazy to think that in 2023, an employed woman/family in Florida can risk losing everything because of pregnancy complications. At this point, any resources, donations, and kind words are greatly appreciated; as you can imagine, this is a very scary time for Kimberly and her family. I have watched this woman navigate these challenges over the last few years with such grace and strength, and I don't have enough words for how much I admire her. Thank you for taking the time to read through this, and thank you for your consideration.