Hi, my name is Ashlea. I have one six year-old daughter. When she was seven months old at the end of 2019, we left an abusive living situation and from there I worked hard to lock down reliable employment and housing. It took a long time, trial and error, learning to navigate systems I did not understand and learning lessons. Most importantly, I learned perseverance. I worked hard to make sure no matter what our living situation was, that my child was safe, well taken care of in all aspects and knew that I loved her. Now we are both older and wiser, but still trying to push back up against all odds. I have been working steadily at one career for two years now, while maintaining a healthy and permanent living situation for us for three years. I have had the honor of working for the State of Washington at a place that serves our retired veterans. This opportunity and stability has improved our lives very much. Part of this was made possible because I had a reliable car. It was just a little two door Fiat. I had bought it used a couple of years before having my daughter. On 12/18/25, my only key to my car went missing from my locker at work after a staff meeting. I was due to get off of work at 4:30. I walked to my car and reached for my key that I expected to feel hanging off my backpack, but it wasn't there. I spent an hour and a half searching the lot, the street, the sidewalks and inside of my building of work. I checked in with all front desks and office workers and coworkers. I checked my bags and pockets so many times in disbelief. I called surrounding buildings to ask if anyone turned my key in to security. I did everything I could the next day to with a lot of help from my best friend driving me around and calling locksmiths and dealerships with no luck. My car has a salvaged title due to an accident I was in before having my daughter. It has a bad engine and is falling apart everywhere. I have drove this car to work everyday on prayers that it doesn't brake down and holds on. After a full day of making phone calls, we found one dealership that said they could get a key from the manufacturer in about ten to fifteen days. I still need to get my car off of the lot at work and to the dealership so the can program the key to my car. After doing the math, it is not worth it to fork out money I don't honestly have into a car that might not even last another six months. I just want to maintain our stability after years of fighting for it with everything I had. My hope is to be able to buy a modest, safe and reliable used car for less than $3,500.00 from someone local in my area and to be able to afford car insurance. I pay all of my bills (phone, Avista, utilities, medical) weeks early, pretty much as soon as I get my first paycheck of the month. I pay my rent a week early in full every month for the last two years. I have never even had cable, Internet or a computer. My daughter and I rely on our local library for resources and at-home entertainment. I don't make enough to cover emergencies like the one we are currently going through. I am not even close to being middle class, but I am honest and sober working class that has hope that I can return to school next Fall to finish my culinary degree and work towards opening my own non profit kitchen to help people that have been through what I have, but this is a huge setback in those plans. I am so grateful for the life we have today and I want to share those blessings one day. If you can, please help us maintain our stability. With warm regards.