My name is Jessica (she/they), also known as Jess. I am a 37-year-old disabled single mom raising a four-year-old child named Aidan (he/they/any), who also has special needs. Last Thursday - the same day Aidan turned four - I lost my job from the past nine years. I am asking for help so that we can stay housed, healthy, and together while I find a way forward.

The past few years have tested everything I have. In late 2021, after battling burnout for years without answers, I finally received my autism and ADHD diagnoses. Two weeks later, I found out I was pregnant. I contracted COVID in the first trimester of pregnancy, and Long COVID reshaped my health in ways I am still managing today - ME/CFS, hypermobile EDS, myofascial pain syndrome, and just last month, a new sleep apnea diagnosis. Between these and other conditions I was already managing before, today my body carries a heavy load, and I show up anyway, every single day, for Aidan.

Last year, I lost my partner Valerie - Aidan's other mother - and our family of three became two. Grief, disability, and single parenthood arrived all at once, and I kept going. I held a job. I cared for my son. I tried.

Here is a photo of Valerie with Aidan, just a few months before she passed away:

My employer knew about everything I was carrying. They watched me navigate grief, disability, and single parenthood for over a year - and spent that same year building a case to let me go. When the day came, they chose Aidan's fourth birthday to deliver the news. There was no compassion in that decision. They knew what they were doing.

Aidan and I - and our two cats, Milo and Dusty, too - are from Puerto Rico, and we have no family where we live. There is no one nearby to lean on, no safety net of relatives who can step in and help with housing, childcare or major expenses. We are navigating this mostly on our own, and that reality makes every challenge heavier.

Right now, I have zero childcare support, which makes job searching enormously difficult. Aidan starts Pre-K at the end of August, and that opening will change everything for us - giving me the structure and time to rebuild. Until then, we are in a fragile window. I have less than two months of savings, a rent contract running through October or November, and monthly rent of $1,435 due on the 1st of each month.

I am starting to search for remote, asynchronous work that I can do while having Aidan around. Also, I am actively applying for unemployment insurance, SNAP, TANF, and every resource available to us. Those benefits will help cover essentials. What they will likely fall short on is rent and the ongoing medical care Aidan and I both depend on. Interrupting our medical care is something I deeply want to avoid.

Every dollar raised here goes directly toward keeping a roof over our heads and our healthcare intact while I get back on my feet. My goal of $7,000 USD covers approximately three months of rent and critical expenses - a bridge to a more stable and affordable situation.

If you can give, I am grateful beyond words. If you can share this, that matters just as much. Aidan and I have survived so much. With your help, we will get through this too.