Brandon Terry is a loving father, a loyal friend, small business owner, essential worker, and community member from Oakland. This loved and cherished friend and father is currently hospitalized in critical condition and needs support. On the night of Friday, July 10th, 2020, he was in a serious accident. He has had three surgeries so far. 

Brandon is one of the hardest working people we know. He has worked two full time jobs (80+ hours a week) for years, starting work at 8am, then a graveyard shift at night. As a small business owner, he created jobs with wages much higher than average for people in his community, hiring people born and raised in Oakland. He cares about people more than profit. He regularly gives generous discounts to people in need of moving services and goes above and beyond for the elderly and vulnerable members of the community. Although he doesn't advertise it, every winter he goes out and donates new moving blankets to unhoused people to keep them warm. He goes out on the truck himself on almost every job, and is always the person working the hardest on the job. Without his support, his small moving business will likely be unable to operate. Brandon is always there for others, and goes out of his way for those he cares about. He is a man of great faith, and incredible generosity.

For his graveyard shift he works full time as a tow-truck operator. I have never met somebody who works like Brandon. He literally works day and night to support his family, and does everything he possibly can to support people in his community. He sometimes sleeps only a few hours a night so that he can work multiple jobs. Whenever I have thought that I was too tired to work, I would think of Brandon, and how he was working twice as much as me, and still wouldn't complain of being tired.

Even through working 80+ hours a week, Brandon has always gone above and beyond for his kids and family. He is a breadwinner and a loving father. When I'd go to his house I'd always see him taking care of his kids in between his shifts - cooking food for them, making water balloons for them, getting them to and from school, helping them with their homework, and so on. When I worked with him, sometimes on his lunch breaks he would visit his kids at school and make sure they were doing well and provide them with support if they were having a hard day. Even to strangers he was generous. On the job, if we would stop for lunch, he would often take unhoused people to eat with him during lunch breaks, or get extra food for them.

He suffered serious injuries to his arm, which required surgery to put metal plates and screws in the arm. He also suffered injuries to his small intestine and back. It is hard for him to even breathe in his current state. Both his jobs are very physical, and due to his injuries he will not be able to work for at least another year. We have no idea when he will be able to fully recover, as the hospital has not even given him an estimated date when he will return home.  When he returns home, he will be on strict bed rest for many months, and then will require extensive physical therapy. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, he is also at risk of becoming sick during his recovery, and will need help to stay safe from COVID-19 exposure during his bedrest. 

Brandon is a person who never asks for help, and would not accept extra support if he did not really need it. We were surprised that he even allowed us to make this GoFundMe for him. Everyone close to him is doing everything we can to support him through this time.

Because he will be hospitalized for over a month, he needs funds to:
1) Support his kids and family.
2) Pay his rent and utilities for at least the end of July and August so that he can continue living in Oakland, in the city that he grew up in, and not be displaced by the high cost of rent and gentrification.
3) Pay hospital bills - the cost of his hospital bills is not clear at the moment, but will be very expensive since he will be hospitalized for at least one month.

If you are able to, it would mean a lot to us for people to donate to this cause and share this fundraiser. God bless, and thank you so much for your consideration.

Please keep in mind this is an especially difficult time to be hospitalized due to the COVID-19 crisis. No visitors are allowed which is very isolating. We are hoping that this Gofundme will show Brandon that he is not alone and that his community, and members of the surrounding community are there to support him.