Help Needed to pay Sarah' s Tuition at VCU

Hi family and friends,

Hope you all are having a wonderful summer as you deserve! I wanted to share very personal difficulties my family is going through. As all of you may know, I came from a very humble family and all my belongings are made out of extremely hard work. The most valuable things my mom taught were faith in God, perseverance, and resiliency during adversity. We never had a family member to reach out for help but God. She pushed and inspired me to be the professional I am these days! Due to that example, I am trying to raise my children the same way! Our family has always been going through a lot. It's like our purpose in life is being fighters!

I am going to talk about the most recent situations happening around us. About 2 years ago, my mom was diagnosed with Dementia. We are still dealing with that diagnosis. A year ago, my husband was diagnosed with Cancer. We are grateful to God; therefore, everything is aiming in the right path and these 2 incidents are changing our lifestyle for the best! God is Faithful, Merciful, and Just, and I see these as other tests like what happened to Job in the Bible. God would never fail even if I stay with nothing in life, I would never deny Him! My daughter Sarah started college almost at the same time as Pablo got his diagnosis. Thanks to God, she got a lot of aids assigned to start her Freshman year. Unfortunately, that is not the case this year! She has some aids assigned but still needs more to cover the rest of the tuition, housing, food, and materials.

Qualification for college aids is based on family incomes after completing FAFSA. Pablo and I got a significant raise in pay, making her unqualified this school year. Regardless, we don't count on that money since Pablo is not working anymore and I am the only support for a family of 5 as a teacher. I appealed her case and there is a chance that she could be assigned some extra aids, but everything is in the air now. I am super hesitant to ask for help from people because everyone has their own difficulties to deal with. I always ask God for help instead and He always provides. After praying last night, I felt touched to ask for donations towards this young and talented lady so she can accomplish her dreams of studying Fashion Design and Merchandising at Virginia Commonwealth University as a sophomore this school year. Anything you can contribute, even a dollar, will help!!

With my heart in hands,

Martha