Background

For a long time, I have been hiding deep shame and secrets about my life. Even those closest to me don’t know the full extent of the truth. I’ve always kept my failings hidden because I always wanted to be the one to inspire and empower others. 

However, Covid-19 and 2020 in general, has made it impossible for me to hide away from the truth.

I am about to lose everything I have, and I need help getting back on my feet. 

For years now, I have thrown myself into helping everyone around me - clothing drives, activism, advocacy work, mutual aid organizing. I help people because I thought it would help me. But what I’ve learned in that time is that nobody will help you, unless you ask for it. So, I’m here asking for your help. 

When Covid came around, my business of six years has all but gone bankrupt, I lost my place, my cptsd has come to a full head in the middle of a pandemic, and I fell into a deep depression that I numbed with disassociation and alcohol use. I have worked very hard to overcome the many obstacles in my life, but this is starting to become overwhelming. 

Since I lost my place, I’ve been living with my daughter and my ex-husband. It’s been great to spend so much time with my daughter, but very challenging for both her Dad and I. He is retired military who suffers from PTSD and multiple physical disabilities from his 20 years of service including overseas. Were it not for Afghanistan, we probably would have stayed together. Alas, the mental health challenges are nearly unbearable. He’s angry all the time, and as time goes on, that anger gets worse and worse. I’ve begged him to get help, but at the end of the day it’s only he who can take responsibility for his health, likewise, me for myself. 

I need to get out of this situation, urgently. I’m about to head down a long recovery road as I try to put the pieces of my life back together (again).  That’s why I’m asking for your help today. 

As a child, I was raised by a mom who had a substance use disorder and eventually sold me to her drug dealer for drugs. My dad was an alcoholic who left when I was four. I survived though, and have been working hard to create a childhood for my daughter that I was denied. I swore my struggles as a child would never be my daughter’s, and I will do everything in my power to keep that promise. 

The reason I share all this with you is to show you that I am resilient, resourceful, and determined to overcome these current challenges. If you donate, I won't let you down. 

Future Vision

I want a better life. I want my daughter to have a better life. I know I can make it happen, I know I can rebuild and rise up stronger and higher than ever before. I just need a little support getting there. 

The place where we currently live and my daughter goes to school is just a small town, so rentals are few and far between and for this reason, are way overpriced. It’s actually cheaper to buy a place if you can scrape together a down payment and get a mortgage. I can’t do either right now because of my situation, but I have found a quaint little 2 bedroom mobile home that my daughter and I would be able to move into right away. If I’m able to raise enough money to buy it, then I’ll be able to afford the monthly lot fees and utilities. 

My plan is to do some small writing gigs while I finish writing my first book. I am also looking at a couple of other additional revenue streams that will take 6-12 months to start earning. I will also continue to go to therapy 2x/week to process my cptsd as I have been doing for the past two years now. 

Getting this place would mean having the ability to share custody with her dad and to keep her in her same school. It would also mean, that I am guaranteed some level of safety and security,  which I need in order to succeed. 

I truly appreciate your consideration and support in helping me and my daughter continue on this beautiful journey called life. I believe that everything is possible, and if I make it to the fundraising goal, I promise to pay all of your kindness forward ten fold! 

With deep gratitude,

Katie and M