Help Lucia Silva Overcome Cancer and Homelessness: A Mother’

Dear friends and supporters,

My name is Lucia Silva, and I am reaching out to you with a heart heavy with hope and determination. I’m a 40-year-old mother of seven beautiful children, and for the past decade, I’ve been locked in a relentless battle against non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This struggle has been compounded by the heart-wrenching reality that my children and I are now homeless. But I refuse to give up, and I’m fighting with everything I have to regain stability and security for my family.

Our journey has been anything but easy. On August 1, 2013, our lives were turned upside down when I was diagnosed with cancer. In 2016, in a desperate bid to find the healthcare I needed, we uprooted our lives in Texas and moved to California. After much effort, we found our footing in Oceanside and began to build a life there. We loved our new home, and for a time, it felt like we were finally moving forward.

I managed to secure the services of an excellent oncologist and set up insurance and state benefits. To support my family, I took on freelance writing jobs, ghostwriting memoirs for others. We were surviving, and though it was difficult, we were managing to get by.

But in January 2023, our world was shattered once again. I woke up one morning unable to feel the left side of my body. A stroke had struck, leaving me hospitalized for more than six months as I fought to regain some semblance of normalcy. Despite my efforts, the damage was extensive, and now I am confined to a wheelchair, likely for the rest of my life.

By the time I was discharged, our savings had been completely depleted, and we were unable to keep up with our rent. My landlords, unsympathetic to our plight, filed for eviction, and by January 2024, we were forced out of our home. Since then, my children and I have been living in motels, moving from one temporary shelter to another, struggling every single day to keep our heads above water.

The cost of our motel room ranges from $95 to $120 per night, and while I continue to write to support us, the expenses are overwhelming. On days when I can’t make ends meet, I have no choice but to ask for help from family and friends. Their generosity has kept us going, but it’s not sustainable.

To add to the burden, I must travel 60 miles each way from Oceanside to Orange for weekly treatments. These trips often require me to stay for several days due to complications, making it even harder to maintain any semblance of normalcy for my children.

The toll this has taken on my family is immense. My 17-year-old son, Lucian, has even offered to quit school to help pay for our room. As a mother, I can’t bear to let him sacrifice his future. His education is his best chance to break free from this cycle of hardship.

But I can’t do this alone. I’m reaching out to you, to anyone who can find it in their heart to help us rebuild our lives. Your donation, no matter how small, can make a world of difference. With your support, I can cover critical expenses, secure stable housing, and start the process of rebuilding our lives.

Here’s how your contribution will be used:

• $1,500 to help repair my credit.

• $5,000 to cover the deposit and first month’s rent for a new apartment.

• $1,000 for moving costs.

• $2,500 to help cover upcoming rent.

Please, if you can, donate to help us turn our lives around. If a financial contribution isn’t possible, sharing our story with others would mean the world to us. Your kindness and compassion can help us find hope in these darkest times.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking the time to read our story.

With gratitude,

Lucia Silva