I never thought I'd be the person writing one of these. Honestly, asking for help is something I've always struggled with. But right now, my two kids — ages 3 and 5 — need me to swallow my pride and do whatever it takes to keep them safe and in our home.

Over the past few weeks, everything hit at once.

My ex was responsible for the car payments on our shared vehicle. What he never told me was that he stopped paying back in October. I didn't find out until a repo company showed up and took the car. Just like that, my kids and I had no way to get to school, daycare, or my job.

I didn't have time to figure it out slowly. My kids needed to get to school and daycare, and I needed to keep my job — it's our only income. I had to buy a car right away. That meant $1,000 cash for the down payment, $300 every two weeks for the loan, and $65 a month for insurance. It took everything I had.

On top of that, I've been dealing with ongoing issues at work with my hours that have been difficult to get corrected, which has made an already impossible situation even harder.

I don't have savings to fall back on. I've used every resource available to me to get my kids out of a bad situation and into a safe, stable home of our own. Everything I had went into building this fresh start for them.

And now, after all of that, I received an eviction notice. I need to catch up on rent and cover the car payment to keep us from losing everything I've fought for.

$1,736 would get us out of the danger zone — rent paid up to date and the car payment covered for the month so I can keep getting to work and getting my kids where they need to be. I'm looking into other assistance options, but I'm not certain what help will come through or if it will come in time.

I know there are a lot of people struggling right now, and I don't take it lightly that you're reading this. Anything you can give — even a few dollars — helps more than you know. And if you can't donate, just sharing this page gives my kids and me a better chance of staying in our home.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story.

— Bobbie