Community,

I’m writing to ask for support for a dear friend, Lime. Lime is a care worker, student of herbalism, and community organizer. Lime is generous, kind, and consistently shows up for the people around them.

Lime has been facing housing and financial insecurity for over a year. They are currently without housing and facing multiple large and necessary expenses that they can’t pay for on their own. Please join me in showing Lime the care and support they deeply need to get to a stable place.

Lime recently landed in the Asheville area and works at the Rainbow Community School in West Asheville. They work part-time five days a week in addition to supporting the school by substituting as the need arises.

Before moving to Asheville, Lime was involved in multiple mutual aid projects, including regularly cooking and distributing hot meals, providing herbal mutual aid to their community, and supporting the Southside Food Forest in Winston-Salem, NC. Lime continues to show up for their community as they’re able, but they’ve had to take a bit of a break from mutual aid work as they are navigating finding housing, car issues, and health needs.

Lime is currently looking for a new place to live, and they need support with the expenses associated with finding a place. They expect first and last month’s rent and their deposit to cost around $2,280.

This week, while navigating moving into a friend’s home temporarily, Lime’s car broke down. They replaced the battery, but the issue persisted. It’s still unclear what’s wrong at this point, but we expect their car repairs to cost anywhere between $400 - $2000.

The same week that Lime lost their housing and their ability to drive themself to work, Lime also permanently lost their EBT benefits as a result of the Trump administration’s SNAP funding cuts that are predicted to affect 42 million people. They used to receive $300 monthly, which helped them stay just barely afloat financially. As a result of these cuts, Lime’s income no longer meets their monthly expenses.

Lime also has persistent tooth pain and they need support with dental care and possibly a root canal. We expect this to cost anywhere between $400 and $1500.

The goal of this campaign is $12,000, which will hopefully cover Lime’s immediate needs and allow them to grow a small emergency fund. We believe if we can meet this goal that Lime will not end up in this position again.

Lime cares deeply about food sovereignty and developing robust, resilient communities. They hope to continue their work of cultivating food resilience so that they and the community around them can have true food security without relying on the state. Let’s show up for them financially so that they can get out of survival mode and back to sharing their gifts with the people around them.

Breakdown of how Lime would use funds received, in order of priority:

Car Repairs: $400 - $2,000

First and last months' rent, security deposit: $2,280

Food expenses: $900 for 3 months

Dental work: $400 - $1,500

Total estimated immediate needs: $3,980 - $6,680

Any funds received beyond this amount will go towards starting an emergency fund, which will provide Lime with the financial capacity to navigate future emergencies and unexpected expenses.

Thank you for taking the time to read Lime’s story and support them in this time of deep need. Let’s show Lime that their community can hold them. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions or fundraising ideas.

With gratitude,

B