<div><strong>I’m Monica, and I’m fighting to survive — emotionally, physically, and financially.</strong>
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<div><strong>I’ve always worked hard. I show up. I’m reliable, experienced, professional, outgoing, and kind</strong>. <em>I’ve spent years being the person people count on — smart, knowledgeable, and willing to go above and beyond.</em> But none of that has protected me from the damage I’ve endured. Not from people. <em>Not from systems that are broken — and not from people who have no safety net.</em>
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<div><strong>I’ve</strong> <strong>been</strong> <strong>through</strong> <strong>things</strong> <strong>that</strong> <strong>no</strong> <strong>one</strong> <strong>should</strong> <strong>have</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>go</strong> <strong>through</strong> <strong>just</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>keep</strong> <strong>a</strong> <strong>job</strong> <strong>or</strong> <strong>try</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>build</strong> <strong>a</strong> <strong>life</strong>. I’ve been bullied, slandered, taken advantage of, and discarded. I’ve lost jobs not because of my performance, but because I had no one to back me up. <em>There either was no HR, or I didn’t have access to it — and if I did, it existed solely to protect the company, no matter how unethical or damaging their actions were</em>. I’ve watched the truth be twisted to cover their tracks, and I’ve had my own name dragged through the mud while staying silent, because I didn’t have a choice.
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<div>This hasn’t been a short-term struggle. <strong>The abuse has gone on for over a decade.</strong> I’ve been on the receiving end of every tactic imaginable — <strong>bullying, manipulation, gaslighting, lies, exclusion, retaliation, and erasure — relentlessly, for years</strong>.
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<div><strong>My abusers keep winning. And they keep trying to control the narrative</strong>. <em>To maintain their power, their reputation, and their image — while ruining mine.</em> They don’t want people to see the version of themselves they gave to me behind closed doors. <em>They don’t want their reputations hurt — even as they destroy my livelihood, my name, my chances. </em>They want me stuck in a story of defeat. Silenced. Invisible. Broken. And every time I try to move forward, that weight follows me — <em>because</em> <em>they’ve</em> <em>made</em> <em>sure</em> <em>of</em> <em>it</em>.
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<div><strong>I’ve</strong> <strong>been</strong> <strong>paid</strong> <strong>wages</strong> <strong>far</strong> <strong>below</strong> <strong>my</strong> <strong>worth</strong>. I’ve been promised raises and advancement that never came. I was offered the bare minimum, no matter how much I gave. And I gave a lot. <strong>I worked hard. I went above and beyond. I made those companies money — more than most. I gave them everything.</strong> And this is how hard work pays off? <strong>With</strong> <strong>slander</strong>? With exclusion? With being cast aside?
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<div><strong>If I had been paid fairly for the work I did, or could do haven given the opportunity, I’d be so much further ahead right now.</strong> I wouldn’t be starting over, again and again. I wouldn’t be scrambling just to survive.
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<div>The emotional and professional cost of being slandered — of having your name tarnished, your character questioned, and your reputation destroyed — <strong>is impossible to overstate.</strong> <em>It doesn’t just hurt in the moment. It follows you.</em> It makes it harder to find work, to trust people, to feel safe, to move forward. <em>It isolates you.</em> <em>It steals your confidence and peace. It convinces others to turn away. And eventually, it takes everything you’ve built.</em>
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<div><strong><em>I’ve been punished for doing the right thing.</em></strong> I’ve been erased, scapegoated, mischaracterized, and pushed out — time and time again — <em>not because I lacked value, but because I was inconvenient to those in power.</em>
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<div>And each time, I’ve had to start from scratch. Each time, I’ve had to be the new employee. <em>No protection. No benefits. </em>Constantly starting over in unfamiliar environments where I’m walking on eggshells — surrounded by cliques, navigating new hierarchies, and learning quickly how disposable I am. <em>It’s exhausting. And it’s not just a job — it’s my survival.</em>
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<div>I’ve also been overlooked even when I was thriving. <strong>When I came up with innovative solutions to real problems — things that would have helped everyone, and often would have eliminated the need for their discriminatory behaviors in the first place — I was retaliated against.</strong> They did the opposite. <em>They made it worse.</em> Even when what I proposed would’ve improved systems, protected health, boosted morale, and supported growth, I was punished. <strong>What should have been recognized as smart, effective leadership became another reason to target me.</strong> Sometimes, the very things I tried to prevent caused harm — to me and to others. <em>And still, they continued.</em>
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<div><strong>Yes — I’ve faced wages far below my worth.</strong>
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<div><strong>Yes — I’ve lived through empty promises of raises and advancement. (Or had them dangled in-front of me. Whatever to try to cause hurt and harm).</strong>
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<div><strong>Yes — I’ve been offered the bare minimum despite my effort and impact.</strong>
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<div>Through all of it, I’ve kept working. I’ve shown up — <em>over and over.</em> But I need help with monthly bills.
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<div><strong>I’m driving a car that’s barely holding on. </strong>Without it, I lose the job I rely on — and without that, everything else collapses. I live every day hoping I can get to where I need to be without breaking down. <em>The stress of that alone is constant and exhausting.</em>
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<div>My health has also taken a hit. I’ve had to take a lot of time off work in the past few months due to medical issues — and every appointment has cost more than time. <em>Gas. Parking. Lost wages.</em> <em>It</em> <em>adds</em> <em>up</em> <em>fast</em>. Even though we’re in Canada and healthcare is supposed to be “free,” that hasn’t been the reality for me. <strong>I’ve never had stable benefits — and the few times I did, I was barely making enough to cover my basic needs, let alone access services like therapy, dental care, or even prescriptions.</strong> Preventative care is a luxury I’ve never been able to afford.
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<div>I wish I could take care of myself when I need to — <em>not just when I’ve hit a breaking point and scraped enough together to manage it.</em>
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<div>I also have a pet who’s overdue for veterinary care, and I’ve been watching things escalate with no way to help. <em>It’s heartbreaking.</em>
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<div><strong>And I have no support system</strong>. <em>There is no backup. There’s just me</em>.
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<div>The emotional damage caused by slander, discrimination, and repeated exploitation is <strong>impossible to describe fully</strong>. It’s taken my peace, my progress, and years of potential from me. I’ve been forced into silence and isolation, and it’s cost me everything — not just professionally, but personally. I’ve lost friendships, family, and connections because of the lies that were told about me. <em>Things that were once upon a time central to my life are now ghosts.</em>
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<div><em>And this is just the workplace stuff.</em> Not touching on anything even personal outside of toxic workplaces. And the toll this has taken on my personal life is something I can’t even begin to quantify.
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<div>There are nights I come home and stare at the TV, but I can’t even absorb a single second of it. <em>My mind is spinning, trying to make sense of it all. Trying to survive it all.</em> It’s been like this for a decade. Every day. All day. I need peace. <em>I need healing.</em>
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<div><strong>But I’m still here — and I’m still fighting for a life that’s mine.</strong>
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<div>This campaign is about survival — <strong>but it’s also about healing</strong>. I’m raising <strong>$30,000–$35,000</strong> to finally stabilize and start putting the pieces back together.
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<div>That includes:
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<div>• Monthly bills
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<div>• Car repairs or replacement
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<div>• Medical and dental expenses
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<div>• Veterinary care
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<div>• Therapy to begin working through the trauma
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<div>• Legal fees
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<div>• Student loan debt
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<div>• The opportunity to tell my story in if entirety to help make the world a better place
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<div>• A path out of survival mode — <em>to breathe, heal, and rebuild</em>
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<div><strong>Because I don’t just want to survive — I want to live</strong>. I want peace. I want to be well. <em>I want to laugh again, deeply and freely. I want a shot at my dreams one day. I want to make music. To write. To do comedy. To make art. To grow things and watch them thrive. I want to build a beautiful life that no one can take from me. I want the chance to finally live the life I’ve fought so hard for — not in constant crisis, but in calm, in creativity, in joy. In </em><strong><em>peace</em></strong><em>.</em>
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<div>I want to believe that the things I’ve been through don’t define me — <strong>that I’m still allowed to dream. That I’m still allowed to feel safe. That there is hope.</strong>
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<div><strong>Slander and discrimination have cost me years of my life</strong>. They’ve cost me friendships, security, my health, and my future. They’ve left me emotionally wrecked, professionally sidelined, and afraid to speak up — <em>because the consequences always fell on me</em>. And the grief that comes with that kind of loss — time and time again — <em>is its own kind of death.</em>
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<div>This isn’t about pity. <strong>This is about justice. About dignity. About peace</strong>.
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<div><strong>I’ve sacrificed everything to try to build something better — only to watch it be taken away, again and again</strong>. And still, I’ve never stopped trying. <em>I’m exhausted — chronically stuck in fight-or-flight — but I haven’t given up.</em>
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<div>If you’ve read this far, thank you. I know how many people are struggling right now, and I don’t take your time or energy for granted. <em>If you’re able to donate, it would mean everything.</em> And if you can’t, sharing this with others who might be able to help is just as meaningful.
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<div><strong>Your support — in any form — is a step toward freedom, peace, and finally being able to rise above everything that’s tried to hold me down.</strong>
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<div>With all my heart,
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<div><strong>Monica</strong>
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A Lifeline to Stability and Dreams

A Lifeline to Stability and Dreams

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