Hi folks, it’s a pleasure to meet you, my name is Cotton. I’m writing this with a clear goal in mind. I’m trying to save my mom.

When you think of the word destitute, what comes to mind? A burning trash can with a pair of shivering hands hovering over it, all your belongings restricted & reduced to what can fit inside your vehicle, long & cold nights of loneliness & isolation. This is what I’m trying to save my mom from. What my mom went through in the last three years is inconceivable by many, insurmountable by most, & a multitude would find unsalvageable. While it is all of these things, it’s also the girl that smiled sweetly at you at Starbucks when you accidentally bumped into her spilling her coffee, the first nourishment that’s been had in days. It’s the girl serving you that breezily laughed it off when your child threw his pasta all over the restaurant floor. It’s the girl that’s a nursing student that gave you ice & treated you when your hand got burned, to finish the shift & go to sleep in her van. In a world teetering on the edge of dark cynicism, I write this looking to the rainbow of light for compassion. I hope, if nothing else, to make a relocation possible, that would provide a safe home for us.

It all started with being groomed by her former boss. A very successful, married father isolated & abused her for years while she was under his employ, nannying for his children, & for years afterwards. When she threatened to reveal all of this information to his spouse, she was cut off completely. No contact or communication. Feeling scared, alone, & dejected she was offered an invitation from an old friend. She was invited by a friend to work for his very lucrative business. She moved across the country, excited for this new opportunity. To deviate for a moment, grammatically, a cult is defined as a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister. A misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing. To continue with the story, everyone employed by this old friend lives under the same roof & is rarely allowed to leave the premises. My mom fell in love with one of the employees, a star on the show, & became pregnant from him within a month. While she was miscarrying costar’s baby (employed by old friend), her old friend fired her. Unknowing to her, the man she was carrying the baby from was being emotionally manipulated/seduced by a stage 5 clinger super fan, who is now his current concubine that spends all of her time constantly attacking my mom from fake twitter accounts that threaten death, plague, & harm to her & all of her loved ones. She threatens & calls upon demons, procuring organs & plant matter with the sole intention to hurt my mom. The old friend who fired her then didn’t pay her the severance pay he promised her. He went on to implicated her in a federal crime, that she did not commit. Fortunately my mom was able to survive, & escaped this faction. Free yes, but still watched. We are witness to these completely noticeable, totally detectable “sleuths” that are clearly keeping tabs on us. Men with cameras whose anonymity is only obscured by their closeness. Threats from journalists, bullys, & random people on the streets. Men have threatened to set me, her beloved dog, on fire.

After fleeing, finally free, her cherished dog, Phil, passed away on the journey back home. Once settled at home in a new apartment with a friend, a drunk driver crashes her car through their living room. Forced to find a new place to live, she was struck with sciatica. In case you don’t know what that is sciatica is pain affecting the back, hip, and outer side of the leg, caused by compression of a spinal nerve root in the lower back, often owing to degeneration of an intervertebral disk. Continuing on, that (former) friend, stopped by to check on my mom. She called her a dumbass after she urinated on the floor, because she couldn’t physically make it to the bathroom, having to crawl as her only physically allowing option. (Really think about being so debilitated that you can’t physically hold your weight on your legs) As the back pain was reignited & amplified, my mom was unable to work, which led her unable to pay rent. Apartment then lost (this is the 3rd home lost in case you’re keeping track). Property manager lies in court, despite partial rent payments made & misinformation provided by said property manager (who told my mom not to make payments due to government funding, that, as it turned out, did not even exist). Few cherished items kept in a storage unit, where other occupants are fine in your space as long as they are of the insect variety, at least according to management. Now my mom & I are living in her car, & I am so thankful that we have this space to ourselves. Pepper in the natural elements such as coyotes, mountain lions, & bobcats, & you have a quick glimpse into what my mom has been enduring for the past few years.

I would like to set 3 separate goals. The first goal I’d like to set at $3,000. This would entail relocation & moving expenses, which would cover the cost of transportation, supplies required for moving, & time needed off for the actual move. The second goal I’d like to set is $5,000. This amount would also ensure proper food & water intake, auto tickets taken care of, medical issues helped, on top of the move & relocation. I’d like to set the last goal at $10,000. This would cover the additional cost of schooling & courses I’d like to take after relocation. I hope to take what I learn, so I can help other people, who are struggling with mental health, depression, physical health, & homelessness just like me.

For more than 15,000 years, dogs have demonstrated the qualities of being the most loyal, benevolent and committed partners of humans. I know a dog’s purpose, at least I know what mine is, & that’s to save my mom. I’m asking for help because my mom is in need.