Help Cathy, Pearl & Frida Find Safety and Stability

A message from Cathy:

Dear Community,

I’m writing with deep urgency and a heavy heart. After recently losing my mother, I’ve been doing everything I can to stay afloat — but the challenges have now become overwhelming, and I need your help.

What Happened:

Until last weekend, I was staying at a Residence Inn in Chantilly, VA with help from generous friends. Unfortunately, after reporting mistreatment by another guest, I was abruptly evicted by hotel management — in the rain, without time to gather my belongings. This traumatic incident was not only unjust, but deeply retraumatizing, especially as it echoes years of struggle tied to my identity as a Korean American woman, an immigrant, a long-time small business owner, and now a person living with disability.

After the eviction, the individual I had reported threw all of our belongings — including my late father’s ashes and irreplaceable family photos from Korea — onto the sidewalk. We waited in the rain for five hours with nowhere to go and no transportation. Since then, I’ve faced ongoing harassment at a nearby sister hotel, and we are now effectively homeless. I’m doing all I can to protect myself and my two beloved dogs, Pearl and Frida.

A History of Setbacks:

This crisis isn’t an isolated event. For years, my family has faced housing instability. In 2018, we lost our family home due to fraudulent foreclosure practices by Wells Fargo. My parents, both elderly and vulnerable, were displaced and passed away not long after. The grief, combined with repeated personal and financial losses, has taken a toll on my health and well-being.

For over 20 years, I was a proud small business owner in Washington, DC. I founded Treasury during the 2009 recession and later acquired Meeps, another boutique that I saved from closure. But in 2022, amid my recovery from an anti-Asian hate crime and while grieving my father’s death, my commercial landlords sold the building mid-lease to focus on their hospitality ventures — forcing me out and wiping out my livelihood.

The cumulative effect of all of this has left me with Complex PTSD. And yet, I am still standing — trying to rebuild from the ground up.

How You Can Help:

We urgently need support for:

Venmo: @Yae-Chung (for immediate needs like shelter)

One unexpected glimmer of hope: one of our Uber drivers turned out to be a hospitality law student at American University who has offered guidance for my case. But right now, we need immediate relief to survive.

If you can donate, share, or simply spread the word, it would mean everything. Your support — no matter how small — helps us take the next step toward safety and healing.

With gratitude and love,

Cathy, Pearl & Frida