This Miracle is Leilani, my daughter, who was born with a condition called Microcephaly. This condition is neurological and in Leilani's case, she was born with half of her brain. Although she was breathing on her own, eating well, and showing no complications after birth she was held in the NICU. The doctor who delivered her insisted that she would not live to see her first birthday, "IF" she did we would constantly be in the ER "if" they were able to revive her because she was going to "forget" to breathe, and he kept her in the hospital for a week performing tests while waiting for me to agree to sign a "do-not-resuscitate order" for her. After several days of my consistent refusal to sign such a document because I would essentially be signing her death certificate before her life even really began we brought her home. Not knowing what the future held I chose from the moment I learned she would be special needs to give her every opportunity I could for the rest of my life. Time has passed, and now Leilani stands on the precipice of adolescence, a testament to the power of love and resilience. Her thirteenth birthday marked a milestone, celebrated with unparalleled joy by her two adoring siblings and me. Every day, Leilani's radiant smile illuminates our lives, a constant reminder of pure love. But as Leilani transitions into middle school, new challenges emerge. Change, a formidable force for any child, amplifies its impact on those with special needs. Routine, the anchor that safeguards against sensory overload, becomes elusive, leaving Leilani vulnerable. The recent school year brought with it a barrage of illnesses, including a battle with Covid, countless sleepless nights, and moments of despair. Tears streamed down her face more frequently, sleep evaded her, and she resorted to self-harm. It was a stark contrast to the years of progress they had witnessed. Yet, amidst these trials, I have always gone to great lengths to ensure my children lack nothing. Unable to work for the first 4 years of Leilani’s life, I solely focused on meeting her needs. Even after returning to school while working full-time, I managed to juggle it all, adapting to remote work in 2017 to accommodate my daughter's unique requirements. But the pandemic, with its ruthless grip, unleashed a new wave of challenges, including the loss of employment in the Fall 2021. I depleted my savings and resources, weathering the storm for six months until finding a new job in Spring 2022. That employment proved fleeting, as a company-wide layoff upended my life once more. Now, with my savings depleted again, I find myself at a crossroads, struggling to find employment that aligns with the needs of my cherished family. Every penny raised will be dedicated to securing their shelter, ensuring they can meet essential household expenses, and providing transportation needs. Goal is set to accommodate fees of the platform AND meet the need. Thank you in advance I appreciate your contribution be it a donation or a share. ** Update ** Thank you to those who have donated and those who have communicated their intentions to donate soon. The average rent for a 3 bedroom house where we live is approximately $1949 so just a few month's rent is nearly $6000. The monthly bills (lights, gas, & water) range on average between $120-200+ each depending on the outside temperatures. Our family has an SUV to accommodate Leilani's wheelchair and hold our entire family. This truck costs approximately $65 to fill up the tank every 3-4 days during the summer while traveling to appointments. During the school year when adding carpool, we visit the gas station every other day some weeks with appointments. The goal set here is just to cover the bare necessities that are past due at this time. I hope that this breakdown gives more insight to our supporters. Again, our family greatly appreciates your generosity & support. ** Update 6/19/23** The goal has been updated from $10,000 to $8,700 to reflect the direct donations that our family has received thus far. While we are nowhere near the goal at this time or the bare minimum amount we had hoped for by this time we are extremely grateful for the support we have received. We greatly appreciate those who have donated here as well as directly to us via other methods to avoid fees. If you would like to donate directly feel free to reach out to me via the contact option here. Please let me know if you shared our information or if you came here from a share please let me know who shared this with you so that I can extend a personal thank you for the support via sharing.

** Update 6/30/23 **

As the new month rolls in we are still hoping to reach our goal quickly just to get to the next chapter of our journey. I have thankfully secured employment that will work with our family's needs with a start date approaching quickly. We’ve had a rough couple of weeks with Leilani’s sleeping & self-harming. Long nights with lots of fussing, crying, scratching, & bruising her face. Through this entire situation of not being qualified for assistance programs, not finding work that fits the need of our family for months, & assessing the procedures of the basic needs special needs families require I have been thinking about all the people that experience this. I hope that after we conquer this, I am one day able to support & assist other families in similar emergency situations at no fault of their own. Life happens to us all and we all need a helping hand at one time or another.

Again we are grateful & sincerely appreciate the support we have received. We appreciate those who couldn’t give financially or chose not to but were willing to share the link, my CashApp, or other methods. Overall we are grateful for ALL contributions. 

*Final Update 10/9/23*

Apologies to those following for the late update. Being hard at work myself to make things happen, starting school, & etc I am just getting around to adding an update. Just as expected all worked out for our family. I updated donations & assistance received offline since this began & until things were manageable. We did not reach goal however the immediate & emergent needs were all squared away & finalized at the beginning of September. 

Special thanks to all contributors as your kindness got us through to the other side. Our family will of course continue to pay it forward. Many blessings 100 times over to each person who played a part no matter how small or how large. 

I have turned off donations & comments, however, I’m not deleting because this will be evidence of our story.