<div>Hi, I’m Sunshine and I never thought I’d be here, writing this. But life has humbled me in ways I didn’t expect, and I’m asking for help because I’ve reached a point where survival isn’t enough. I <em>want to live again</em>.
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<div><strong>I’ve Worked So Hard for a Better Life —</strong>
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<div>I have a BA in Psychology, worked as a teacher, financial services , education, am a licensed esthetician, makeup artist, and I created a natural skincare line after overcoming personal skin trauma. I’ve built a reputation for helping people feel confident, cared for, and seen.
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<div>But right now, every dream has been put on hold just to survive.
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<div><strong>From Hustling to Rock Bottom</strong>
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<div>When I moved to California alone, I was chasing peace, healing, and new beginnings. But starting over came with a heavy price.
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<div>I had to wait 7 months for my esthetics license to be approved here. That meant taking on jobs I didn’t love, like account payables, retail and eventually found myself driving an hour to three hours one way simply to survive. During that time, I used up both my savings and credit cards just to afford food, rent, gas, and other basics.
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<div>I’ve gotten food from food pantries and lived in a single bedroom in a home of strangers to new homes of friendships I’ve made along the way. When I had nowhere else to go due to high housing costs and damaged credit, I ended up putting my things in storage, in my car and lived in a hotel for a few days. Eventually, I worked three jobs just to finally afford a place of my own — after couch hopping and sacrificing more than I could’ve imagined.
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<div>While I’m grateful for those who opened their homes to me whom I just met, nothing compares to having a place of your own — especially after working 10-hour days. I never wanted to overstay my welcome or feel like a burden in someone else’s space. I just wanted the peace and dignity of coming home to my own.
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<div><strong>A Car Accident &amp; Concussion = A Major Setback</strong>
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</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/92970513_1753299493843646_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
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<div>On July 7th,2025, I was in a serious car accident that left me in the ER with fortunately nothing broken but a ton of cuts, bruises and a concussion. I’m still experiencing symptoms like fevers, dizziness, fatigue, and mental fog — all while trying to keep going.
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<div>I’m thankful for life but the accident totaled my only vehicle, making it harder to get to work, take freelance jobs, or run errands safely. With no car, everything became harder — and more expensive.
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<div>I’m doing clerical work now, helping others, but I still feel like I’m barely keeping my own life together behind the scenes.
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</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/92970513_1753299340925563_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
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</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/92970513_1753299548828269_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
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<div>The insurance payout fortunately covered my remaining loan. But I’m left with just enough for a down payment — not enough for a reliable replacement — and I’m now on unpaid leave. Without a car, consistent work is nearly impossible in Southern California and seems like finding closer employment is tougher due to massive layoffs worldwide. I’m mentally and financially depleted. Every day feels like a race just to exist.
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<div><strong>Financial Pressure &amp; Debt from Survival</strong>
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<div>I’ve used every credit card I have just to stay afloat — not for extras, but for basic survival. My rent alone is $1,895/month without utilities and to break my lease and find something more affordable, I’d have to pay three months upfront — something that’s impossible with my current income and damaged credit.
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<div>I feel like I’m drowning under the weight of it all. No matter how hard I try, it never feels like enough.
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<div><strong>Why I’m Asking for Help</strong>
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<div>I don’t have a financial safety net anymore or family inheritance to fall back on as I’ve been the one who's constantly worked relentlessly and helped others when there’s been a need. Every win I’ve had, I earned through sheer determination. But now… I’ve hit my breaking point.
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<div>I’m humbly asking for $10,000 to:
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<div>* Break my lease and move somewhere more affordable
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<div>* Put a down payment on a reliable vehicle
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<div>* Pay down urgent, debt and medical bills
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<div>* Regain financial stability after my concussion and accident
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<div>* Begin rebuilding the life I worked so hard for
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<div>This GoFundMe will help me:
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<div>✅ Buy a reliable hybrid car
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<div>✅ Cover basic living expenses and bills while on unpaid leave
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<div>✅ Pay for car insurance, registration, and transportation essentials
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<div>✅ Possibly relocate closer to work
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<div>✅ Start healing my mental health and rebuild my life
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<div>I’ve never been afraid of hard work — but right now, I need a lifeline.
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<div>If you’ve ever had to rebuild your life from scratch, you understand how lonely and exhausting it can be. Your support means more than just money — it means time to breathe, space to heal, and the power to keep going.
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<div>Thank you from the bottom of my heart, your prayers, and your support during this extremely vulnerable time. It means everything.
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<div>– Sunshine
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Anonymous

Helen Chavez

Erecia Williams

Gina Clawson

Wanda Davila

Reynaldo Osoria

Tiffany Jenkins

Joie Thomas

Maurisa George

Dana DAdamo

Stephanie Pepen

Julisa Gonzalez

Quia Atkinson

Nelson Grant

Nelson A. Grant

From Burnout to Breakthrough Support Sunshine’s Fresh start

Support urgent earthquake relief and past recovery in Venezuela.

Apoya la ayuda urgente tras el terremoto y los esfuerzos de recuperación en Venezuela.

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

Support Comments Allowlist

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

checkout headers audience

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Just $220$ to go! Make an impact.

From Burnout to Breakthrough Support Sunshine’s Fresh start

Just $220 to go!
Make an impact.