Joyous 82 year old friend here in San Francisco battling serious illness, facing surgery and may lose her home. She is an artist and has worked as a legal secretary for much of her adult life. Recently she badly hurt her hand and could not do her usual legal work.  She began selling her jewelry, furniture  and clothes to stay afloat. She quit her artist studio. She still owns her parent's tiny cottage, where she was born. She cannot live there in the winter, so moving there is not an option. She had to take out a small loan on this cottage to handle the added fees her landlords have added to her rent. These added expenses have formed a classic domino reaction.  Recently she found out that she has to go in for major surgery.  She has insurance, thank God, but she stands to lose everything.  I have loaned and given her what I can and now I am just trying to grab at straws to help her out. She knows I am doing this GFM, but posting photos of her on the net asking for money at a time she needs her strength and a positive spirit would be too much for her.  I will happily validate this cause if anyone has any questions. She is simply an elderly woman just trying to live with some dignity and peace as she bravely faces a serious illness pretty much alone.  The money I am asking for here is basically to help her supplement her rent and save her cottage from foreclosure.  I have changed our goal because the initial figure to get the cottage out of foreclosure was higher and there was no rent money left over. She just needs a couple of months of supplemental help. These donations will make such a huge difference to her and get her through this horrible period of setback. She is ready to go back to work as soon as she can. She is selling what she can from my FB page and is shaking every tree to get what aid is available to her. She is one of a kind! I will conclude by saying that this could happen to anyone these days. None of us would want this for our parents or any family member. Thanks for reading all this and I hope you can help her in some way, big or small.
I have contacted a reputable loan specialist who has agreed to guide my friend through this complicated financial mess.  As your donations come in, he deposits them in a trust fund and then directs them to the appropriate accounts as guided by my friend and myself.  His name is Allen Smith. You will see funds directed to him on this GFM page.  Thanks once again to Allen and to all of you who have reached out to our friend!