Help Gabi's Family Find Stability and Hope

Unexpectedly, I find myself to be an advocate for a family that is struggling to raise themselves out of poverty and to make a better life for their beautiful 4-year-old daughter. I need your help.

Gabi just turned four and she is full of exuberant life, she will charm your socks off! I find myself utterly sockless.

I met Gabi on a late afternoon at the end of June when the outside temperature was a blistering 96 with close to 100% humidity. The “feels like” rating for the day was over 100. I was in my

warehouse in downtown Petersburg, puttering around after work. Her mom, Amanda, knocked on the door and asked if I had any work she could do, anything at all. I really didn’t, so I said, “No. I am sorry.” A little while later, after Amanda had asked the same question of every business on the street—to no avail, she and Gabi came walking past on the way to their car. I saw that Amanda was trying hard not to cry. I asked if they were ok, and she assured me that they were just fine. I asked her to please look me in the eye and I asked again. This time she could not keep the tears at bay, and answered softly, no. I invited them in for water and a break from the brutal heat and humidity and she told me a little of their story.

The first day I met Gabi - June 27, 2024

Amanda said the worst thing of all was having to tell Gabi that they would have to sleep

in the car again that night as they had done for the past week. That was a devastating thing to hear, much less (and I cannot really imagine) to have to tell your three-year-old child. Amanda and her husband Scott had secure housing before COVID but had to vacate when the owner needed the space for relatives affected by the shut-down.

Since then, they had lived in an unsafe and unstable hotel room in exchange for working in shifts at the front desk. She worked days, he worked nights. Other than the room, they received $20 per day in earnings with no benefits, no perks, and no time to make extra income elsewhere. None of their vital records were in their possession and they did not have reliable transportation. After almost three years of this existence, Scott was offered some money to shoplift some items from Lowes. Unfortunately, he accepted the offer, and he was caught and sentenced to 53 days in jail for petty larceny. Senator Aird passed a law last year that made it possible for anyone charged with a misdemeanor, who serves a 60-day sentence or longer, to have all of their vital records in hand before they are released. Scott’s sentence was one week shy of the 60-day mark. Coincidence?

With Scott incarcerated, the manager of the hotel where they had been living and working began to make inappropriate demands on Amanda. Amanda quit and left with Gabi in their run-down car which had almost no transmission, not to mention was uninsured and did not have a current safety inspection certificate. They made their get-away by driving down the shoulder of the highway traveling 25 mph with their flashers on. They left the only home that Gabi had ever known – a shoddy hotel room in a bad part of town, sharing a bed with her parents from infancy to almost 4-year-old girlhood.

At this point, I decided to pay for them to stay in a motel for the night. I followed them to the Econo Lodge in Petersburg and paid $75 for a room that I would have hesitated to set a single toe in, much less an entire foot. It was heartbreaking to leave them there. The next day, I extended that stay through the weekend, in the hope that on Monday various social agencies tasked with providing aid would do so. The realities (unreturned phone calls, limited hours, years-long waiting periods for housing, to name a few specifics) of our “safety net,” were, to say the least, shocking. In short, Gabi and her mom were on the street with nearly nothing. That broken-down car was their only asset.

Day two - at the warehouse after a good night's sleep

Since that time, I have been acting as an advocate for them in seeking support and/or solutions, and now that Scott is out of jail, for him as well. I have paid for weeks of motel bills, put them up in my warehouse (with vouchers to a truck stop for showers and laundry), and let them stay in a friend’s apartment while he was out of town. It has been an incredibly heavy lift, but I believe that they have the fortitude, integrity, and perseverance needed to have a shot at gaining a more stable life and providing a decent up-bringing for their brave, bright, and outgoing little girl. Gabi is utterly charming, and she has captured my heart. Her smiles and laughter have fueled my ambition to make things better for this family. She deserves a shot at a better life.

But they need substantial support. I have done a significant amount of work on their behalf and have exhausted my means. It really should not be as hard as it is. I have driven them to court appointments, made endless trips to the DMV, and tried everything I know to get them any support. Even with the generous help of Senator Aird and her amazing staffer, Jameson, almost all my efforts have fallen flat. The list of challenges this family faces seems endless at times.

In addition to all the “normal” advocacy measures, out of sheer desperation and utter lack of options I have:

Gabi in her own room for the first time ever!

Rv family - August 8, 2024

Campground Gabi

Van family

Moving forward, I cannot face the challenges alone and I am also near the end of the resources needed to aid this family. Without a system that works to help people in need, unimaginably, this intense personal effort from a stranger is what is needed to elevate a family out of poverty. It is insane to me how fully the systems that are in place to help our neighbors experiencing poverty have failed. Every step of every process is overwhelmed and underfunded. I am seeing firsthand the effects of the housing crisis that face our country. It is unreal.

But through my individual efforts (plus critical help from my closest circle of peeps), this family currently has a relatively secure place to live, vital documents, one job, and reliable transportation. They could never have managed this alone; it simply is not possible. I have worked diligently, spent way more money than I have, and taken more leave from my own job than I like just to get this far. This is as close to a stable position as this family has been since the pandemic changed the course of their lives forever. We are so close.

I got to throw Gabi a 4th Birthday party!

I got to dress up the whole family and take them all to Unicorn World!

What this family needs to really make it is a team of supporters. I simply cannot do it alone any longer. I hope you can join me on “Team Gabi”. Together, we can make sure Gabi has a shot at the life she deserves. I fear that without continued assistance, all of these efforts will have been in vain. It is too overwhelming to even contemplate.

The wins have been substantial and go a long way toward canceling out the many losses. Scott managed to secure a job at a fast-food restaurant and does a great job hustling day labor to keep a few dollars trickling in. Amanda has earned her driver’s license and can drive Scott to work and run critical errands to keep their RV home running and to keep that smile on Gabi’s face. But there is still so much to overcome, and I am nearing the very itty, bitty end of my resources. I need help. Please give whatever you can. Monetary contributions are, of course, welcome but there are other ways to help. Clothing, food, toiletries, information/advice on finances, health care resources etc., unused gift cards, assistance with resume building, an old but working laptop or tablet, help with van/camper repairs. The list goes on. We are open to any and all support. I would love to come up with enough $ to pay off the RV (approx. $6,000) and gift that to them free of debt. Beyond that, a nest egg to meet other needs would be helpful.

Join me, friends. If this works, it might be the greatest accomplishment of my life.