Hi, my name is Sophie, and I have been helping distribute food every week through our local Mutual Aid Group, Shared Plate, here in Escondido, for the past 8 months. We recently started seeing a family show up to receive food and resources from us, and over the past month, we have gotten to know them and their story better.

Gabby and Leonel show up each week with their two-and-a-half-year-old son, Alex, to help themselves to the warm food we serve. We have also been providing them with small monetary donations from our own pockets so they can prolong their stay at the motel where they have been living for the past month and not end up on the street.

This past Thursday, I had a chance to speak with Gabby again, and she shared more of her and her family's story with me. She also has a 15-year-old daughter, Ivette.

Gabby shared with me that she and her family have been living in motels for about the past 3 years as a direct result of being evicted from her apartment during COVID. With the eviction on her record, Gabby shared that it is virtually impossible to secure a new rental despite continued efforts to find low-income housing, many calls to 211, and a rainy-day phone call to the Inclement Weather Program housing hotline, which offered no help.

Recently, it has been one thing after another for Gabby and her family. The motel they were staying at in Escondido limits people's stay to 21 days, so they were kicked out on Thursday. To secure lodging at another motel, a $100 deposit was required. The family recently parked in a no-parking zone, their car was towed, and now they are without a vehicle. On top of that, Leo's bike was recently stolen, which has greatly limited their mobility.

Gabby and I spoke of different options that might be available to her. She even pulled up her email and showed me multiple housing resources she had reached out to and funding she had tried to secure for her family. I mentioned Operation Hope, the Homeless Shelter I have been volunteering at in Vista for the past three years. Gabby mentioned how they have a strict curfew (they do) and how this would not work due to her older daughter's current work schedule, which requires many late-night shifts.

We have been happy to help when we can, providing a couple of hundred dollars here and there, but we want to make a bigger impact for this family. We are asking for donations to secure a safe motel room for the family while they continue applying for low-income apartments. Ideally, we will raise enough money for the family to make a deposit (which will be higher than normal due to the eviction notice) and eventually have a more secure setup moving forward.

Even amid all they have been going through, Gabby and Leo have brought clothes and shoes to donate to Shared Plate for us to redistribute to other community members who may be in need. This is truly what community care and mutual aid are all about. We ask that you please open your wallets, skip your daily coffee, and send over $5 to help us get this going and show up for this family! Any amount helps!! Thank you so much.