Hi y’all! Joye and I are struggling and need the support of our community. The ask: help to pay for repairs to my car.

Background: As many of you know in June of 2023 the contract Joye was working on ended, and she ended up being unemployed for more than two years. As many of you know, the job market for the tech industry is brutal, especially in the video game space. After a year and a half of looking, Joye and I decided that we couldn’t beat our heads against a brick wall any longer. Since I’ve known her, Joye has said that she wanted her retirement job to be teaching in underserved schools. So in January 2025, she went back to school to become a teacher. I’m so proud of her dedication and bravery to take on this new challenge. Since August she has been teaching government, economics, and US History to 11th and 12th graders at Eastside Early College High School. She truly connects with these kids and I know it is the job she was meant to do.

In the meantime, I have been the main breadwinner for our family. I didn’t get into doula work to get rich but I have been able to support us. For the most part, we’ve been able to cover our basic bills, sometimes with the help of family members and friends. We’ve simplified and downsized. We’ve run through any savings and depleted what little we had for retirement. We’ve tried to put on a brave face and for the most part have hidden our struggles.

We’ve had our difficulties but since Joye has been teaching we’ve mostly been ok. On Monday, we took my car for what we thought was a straightforward brake job. It turns out that the ABS system is shot. The repairs will cost in the neighborhood of $3500. Apparently, Toyota has known about this common problem for certain model years of the Prius, yet sent only one notice about having it fixed--to the previous owner, who didn't pass that information along to us. As a birth doula who is on call all the time, I need to have reliable transportation. I can’t do my job without it.

All this is to say that we need help. Please consider donating. Every bit helps. Thanks for reading this.

Biggest hugs,

Brenda and Joye