Hi friends and family,

Although our immediate family is safe, we have unfortunately had a difficult couple of months.

(Sorry in advance for the novel, but we just want to be as transparent as possible about everything.)

On March 11, 2025, Sergio lost his father. This loss has hit his family hard, as to be expected, and he took some time off of work to process and be with his mother and siblings in the first devastating days afterwards. The funeral proceedings have proved to be extremely complicated, due to the necessity of having the funeral in Mexico where all of his family is located and all of the paperwork required to do so. Because of these complications, the amount of time Sergio has had to take off of work has been longer than expected, and as the funeral has still not been held, he will have to take more time in the near future.

Additionally, on the night of 3/23/25, there was a fire at our apartment complex in the units directly underneath of ours. The three of us were able to escape safely with our cat, which we are so grateful for. We unfortunately were exposed to quite a bit of smoke while evacuating, and needed to be seen at the hospital for smoke inhalation, but were released later that day.

We are currently unable to return to our apartment unit. While we thankfully do have renter's insurance that will cover our housing in the meantime, they will not provide funds in advance; they will only reimburse us once we have already paid for our accommodations. Because of our recent time off, and the time off we anticipate we will still need, we are unable to pay for accommodations up front. We are thankful to have family that we have been able to stay with for the past few days, but it is not sustainable for us to stay here until our next rental unit is ready in 2-3 weeks.

While neither of us is the type to ask for handouts, we find ourselves in a place where we are not sure what our path forward is. We are hoping to just get some financial breathing room to deal with all of the upcoming expenses we expect to incur, including lodgings while displaced, any personal belongings that need to be replaced immediately before being reimbursed by our insurance, the hospital bill, and other potential unforeseen expenses, as we have no idea what to expect in the next few weeks as everything unfolds. We will need to replace all of the food in our house, as well as many if not all of Evie's beloved stuffies, and potentially other items if they cannot be remediated (i.e. mattresses). We also want to ensure that we are able to pay our next month's rent when our new rental unit is ready, as our renter's insurance does not cover lost wages.

We understand that it is a difficult time for most people financially right now, and are grateful for any mental and emotional support anyone wishes to give as well.

Thank you all for being part of our support system in your own ways, and just know we love and appreciate all of you.

-Sergio, Skye, Evie, and Harley the cat