Hello, I'm Gwendolyn and this is my family's and my struggles. We have been living in a hotel for 2 weeks now and we are struggling to keep our heads above water. I keep on trying to make money by doing the delivery apps and I do have a job but it's not enough.

What brought us here was, first thing, my son, Ian, was the main source of income and about mid-August of last year he started getting sick. He would vomit at least 3 times a day or more. Every day from then till January 4th, he was sick to the point that he couldn't keep his job. I took him to several ERs, he took himself to several hospitals as well, and they all took one look at him and said that his problem was a GI (stomach) problem and that he needed to consult with a GI specialist. Some of his symptoms were vomit—that's the big one—he would get extremely dizzy, he would get flashes in his eyes, and really bad headaches. And with all those symptoms and problems, he still took care of his kids. But on the night of the 4th of January, he had 2 seizures. At that moment, I was so scared and worried, so I took him to Advent Health North Pinellas, which was about 35 to 40 minutes away from where we lived at the moment. They (Advent) were the only ones to actually think outside the box and suggested a CT scan of his head. And that's where they found the root of all his problems. They saw swelling in his brain. So Advent Health sent him via ambulance to Advent Health Tampa. There they found the tumor, the cause of all his problems. At the size of about a quarter, it was growing in his 4th ventricle. That area was where the brain fluids would flow in and out of the head, and it was blocking fluid from moving, which caused the swelling, which caused the dizziness, and with everything else. On January 10th he went under the knife for 9 and a half hours. That was the longs scariest day of my life. And with the support of my mother and my good friend they kept me going, we prayed together, cried and laughed but I still felt every hour pass by and finally around late evening the surgeon called me with the update. He told me that there was a small complication but everything went well and they're finishing up and that I would see him soon . About an hour later they brought him up to the ICU. He had a brain bleed while he was under, so they ended up doing 2 operations at one time. And thankfully of all of possibilities of things to expect after surgery he came out still able to talk , walk, see and hear, although he has double vision we are all happy, thankfully he is still with us. I spent the whole time with him at the hospital we lived there about a month and a half. About a week after the surgery they had to do another surgery to place a shunt because his body was still unable to move the fluids out of the brain and basically a shunt is a tiny tube that goes in his brain and drains out the extra fluids and takes it to his stomach to let it get re absorbed into the body.

Now to explain how that affects our lives because of everything going on to my son my mother and I had to pay everything and that took everything we had and when we went to the apartment's office to let them know what's going on, and that we wanted to renew our lease. The office management denied us because of lack of income. Even though at that moment we had enough money in the account to pay rent for about 3 to 4 months. So they evicted us.

My mother is on SSI so she doesn't get a lot from Social security and I have a few Health issues that makes it hard for me to work. But I have managed to fine a job that accommodates my needs. I was able to make it thru training and passed but unfortunately I got sick and lost my voice and my job is a call center. So they gave me time off till I can get my voice back. All the while I am calling and going in person to every organization and places that have assistance such as metropolitan administraty, the coalition, to name a few, I have called 211 and they gave me so many places to call and visit but they all say the same thing " we got budget cut" " no fundings" or "we have a waiting list that goes around the corner long" and also " we are still overwhelmed with helping out the hurricane victims " so everyone is in the same boat. All these organizations are working off of donation and supporters, I know they would help if they could. While I uber all day and night just try to make enough for a night it's still not enough at time and good friends that I have had the pleasure of meeting during this ordeal has helped us out a lot but he can only do so much. And I don't want my family especially my grand baby in a shelter or living out of my car. My family and I aren't bad people, we are just down on our luck and we are trying I'm trying to get us out of this situation but my health isn't helping I'm still sick with no voice because I haven't had a chance to really stop and take care of myself and my biggest worry is if I end up in the hospital what is going to happen to my family, everyone that we know, family and friends has done what they could within their abilities and can't no more and they have their own problems. We just need enough to make for a month , just so that I can save money to move and also catch up with my pass due car payments, and everyone knows transportation is key without it we really are stuck , we have a low income apartment that is willing to help but we barely make the minimum that's why I'm trying to take care of my voice so I can go back to work get at least 2 to 3 paystubs to show proof of income along side my mother's SSI we would make enough to get into an apartment and we are fighting for my son's Social security.

I thank God, Advent Health Tampa for saving my son. He is recovering well and he is enjoying everyday he gets with his children. And I love watching them play and love on their daddy. But living in a hotel isn't good for little ones plus my son can't thrive in this unsafe environment. Please help us . I just need a little bit of time to be able to get what I need to get us out of here and into a save place.

Very much appreciated for taking your time on reading all of this and for all of your support. Have a blessed day