Hi! My name is Emily, and I'm fundraising for an unhoused family -- Martha, Miguel, and their one-year-old baby Liam. When I went out to feed unhoused people last Sunday, I found them sleeping in their car. We served them oatmeal and lunches, and we were able to talk with them extensively about their situation.

They lost their home in July (when their landlord sold the house Martha had been living in since she was 12), and they have been living in a hotel ever since. Unfortunately, their money has run out, and they are sleeping in their car until Martha's next paycheck on Friday. This is one of the coldest weeks of the year, with temperatures expected to drop below freezing near the end of the week, and I'd like to help them fill in the gap by paying for their hotel until Friday (so their baby can at least have heat and the parents can be well-rested and showered for work).

They are America's working poor. Martha works six days a week for a well-known parcel delivery company, and Miguel works in construction with concrete, but due to the rainy weather, he has not been able to work much this month. They were offered space in a family shelter in a different city, but it's too far away from their jobs, and they are also struggling to afford gas money. Additionally, shelters have very restrictive hours, and Miguel has a 12-year-old son (who lives with his mom) and is undergoing chemotherapy for spinal tumors, and Miguel wants to be able to visit his son whenever his son asks for him, even if it's in the evenings. They need to be in Concord (where their jobs are, and where they can be close to Miguel's older son).

Long-term, we are trying to connect them with services that can help with a security deposit so they can rent a small apartment or even just a bedroom or in-law unit in someone's house. They make enough money to afford monthly rent, but with paying for a hotel every night, they have not been able to save for move-in costs.

Short-term, I want to be able to pay for four nights in a hotel until Martha gets paid again. The hotel they have been staying at is $109/night. My husband and I already paid for last night, and we are asking for your help to cover the next three nights. Any funds left over will be used to buy gas cards for the family. Even if you can just donate $5 or $10, that would be helpful.

I normally don't pay for hotel rooms for the people we serve because it doesn't solve their homelessness problem -- it's just a tiny band-aid on a much more serious wound, and a very expensive band-aid at that. It means I could end up spending hundreds of dollars for a family who would be unhoused again within a few days. But I felt strongly led to help Martha and her family in this way because what they need right now is that band-aid. They need someone to fill in this gap for them until Friday so their baby is not sleeping in a freezing car without even enough gas money to turn on the car and run the heater.

For privacy reasons, they were not comfortable having me post a photo of their family, but they did send me a photo of the hotel room last night (including Liam's crib and the movie they turned on to help him settle down for the night). If you feel you need more information on their situation, feel free to PM me on Facebook, and I can share more information privately.

Thank you!