<div>February 2023 was a life defining moment for me. I fought to keep my home until I was eventually evicted and displaced, instantly losing my stability and the majority of my personal possessions. The fight itself was a yearlong battle, dealing with hiring freezes after the pandemic while trying to be fully independent. This was an experience that left me with so much shame and embarrassment. With the exception of some friends and family, I suffered in silence. I relocated and found work in Los Angeles. Two years later, I am still rebuilding.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I've been exposed to challenges I never thought I'd have to deal with:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Mental and Emotional Distress </strong>
</div>
<ul>
<li>A chronic state of danger that keeps me in a "fight or flight response."
</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>Social Isolation</strong>
</div>
<ul>
<li>The strain and loss of personal relationships.
</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>Barriers to Stability</strong>
</div>
<ul>
<li>A lack of a permanent address.
</li>
<li>Difficulties finding new housing due to the eviction on my record (most landlords automatically deny applicants because of that).
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I was impacted by the LA fires in January (2025) because it put my housing and job at risk. I’ve been relying on temporary stays and was in an evacuation zone at the time. As someone already experiencing homelessness, this was a tough wake-up call for me on how underprepared I was for another displacement. The fires disrupted LA’s hospitality and tourism industry, setting me back financially and increasing the risk of losing my temporary stay as well.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>What keeps me going is living life with the expectation that good things <em>will</em> happen. I have been able to find a sense of home and community in Los Angeles where I am planting seeds to start a new life.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The first step has been speaking up about my situation and asking for help. A major milestone has been finally getting a State ID, Medicaid and other benefits with the assistance of The Department of Social Services. Rebuilding is an everyday process, but I am confident that I will get to a point where I can stop surviving and <em>start living</em>.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>With this fund I will be able to:
</div>
<ul>
<li>Secure safe and stable housing through a deposit and rent.
</li>
<li>Afford temporary stay payments while seeking a permanent home.
</li>
<li>Purchase essential items and cover utility bills
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>As I free myself from silence and rise above my circumstances, I hope that this will reassure people going through similar challenges that they too can rise and <strong>rebuild</strong>.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you!
</div>

Jared Dembowski

Nathalie Escudero

Michelle Lugo

Iris M Crawford

Mesha Allen

Nicole Roberts

Hadiya Alexander

A New Life: Finding Hope After Homelessness

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

A New Life: Finding Hope After Homelessness

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