Hello, my name is Addison and I'm creating this fundraiser for my dear friend and neighbor, Aurora, who urgently needs funds to return safely home to Mexico within the next two weeks.

This is her situation: Over 8 years ago at 55 years old and living in Mexico, Aurora's husband passed away, leaving her in severe economic hardship. Facing employment discrimination as an older woman, she came to the US to work to raise enough money to buy a place to live and begin a street vendor business. She worked as many hours as she could get as a blueberry picker, chicken factory worker, and dishwasher. But in early 2022, she suffered a major workplace accident as a dishwasher in which she inhaled a caustic chemical that a coworker used on a large pan. In the two years since, she has suffered alarming and disabling symptoms, which have significantly limited her mobility and left her in tremendous pain, leaving her unable to work. She has suffered severe isolation as a Spanish-speaker living in the suburbs, with no transportation or other resources, living with a violent partner, and having such difficulty physically getting around. For all of these reasons, I've had to witness my vibrant friend deteriorate quickly.

The good news is that her case has closed with a small permanent disability settlement of $20,000 at long last. But, especially after covering specialist medical fees, it won't be enough to cover her cost of living in Mexico. Apart from the settlement she has nothing -- she is currently staying in a domestic violence shelter to escape her partner, who demanded he receive her settlement money and attacked her when she refused. All she has is a few changes of clothes donated to the shelter and her cell phone. She is relieved to experience the relative safety of the shelter, but she only has a total of 30 days to stay there, and after that she has nowhere to go. She urgently needs to get home to her family in Mexico to build her life again, but she can't do it alone.

So I'm asking donors to generously raise enough money to help Aurora start her business and live her life in health and safety in Nayarit.

Before her accident, Aurora managed to buy a small plot near the center of town to build her house. She has four walls and a roof, exterior doors, a stove, a bed, a refrigerator, and an outhouse. It still needs flooring, interior doors, and a sink. One of her greatest talents is her culinary capability, and her dream is to sell her various street foods from the large window in her house, and to purchase a cart to sell them in the market square. I've been hearing about this goal for as long as I've known her! If she is successful enough, she'd like to employ other economically disadvantaged women-- older women, single mothers-- and share the profits among them. In the meantime, she has her daughters to help her. To finally begin the dream she has been working toward for so long, she will need:

-a "hotdoguero" pushcart

-a sink in her home

-cookware

-trays and a tray rack

-an industrial tortilla dough maker

-an industrial tortilla press

-a grill

-signage and lights

-ingredients

-a cash register and safe

Additionally, she needs:

-transportation money

-money for her medications

-money to seek specialist care in Mexico for her ongoing breathing difficulties

-money for food

-housewares

-a few more clothing items and another pair of shoes

-ideally, flooring and interior doors

This woman has shown me so much love and kindness. She brought me piping hot pozole whenever I was sick, tended my garden when I was away, shared her knowledge in the kitchen, and became one of my most treasured friends. I will miss her very much. But she and I will both finally rest easier when she is home, self-employed, and resting on the beach with her family where she belongs. For anyone who donates to make this come true, from the bottom of my heart, thank you!!