Help Martha Support Her Family!

Help Martha Support Her Multi-Generational Family!

My name is Cara, and I’m raising funds for my good friend Martha. She is a mother of 7 and a mutual aid advocate living in Rochester, NY. Martha believes in the power of communities to meet each other’s needs if everyone pitches in and recognizes we’re interconnected, and she has helped teach me to believe the same. But unfortunately, her family has not received sufficient support for several years, and their needs have piled up.

Martha needs assistance with past-due bills, new transportation, and accessible housing. I know that $100,000 sounds like an astronomical sum, but Martha would never ask for more than she needed; in fact, this sum won’t leave her family as stable as they deserve to be. I can also guarantee that funds beyond what Martha’s family needs will be put back into mutual aid to support others.

Who Is Martha?

Martha identifies as a poor, fat Black woman with disabilities, meaning she lives at the intersections of multiple forms of oppression. She is also a single mom and recently became responsible for her mother’s care. Martha’s mother has a terminal diagnosis with limited time left to live. Martha is providing virtually all her mother’s care, raising her own children, and working a full-time job.

Martha believes in giving back to her community as much as she receives, and she does so in various ways. She helps connect youth and other community members with urgent services and provides what limited financial mutual aid she can out of her pocket. Whenever possible, she also loves feeding her unhoused neighbors in Rochester a full, hot meal prepared with love. Unfortunately, Martha has recently had to cut back on the community meals due to her financial circumstances. She would love to return to a place where she can freely give back to the most marginalized in her community.

Why Martha’s Family Needs Community Support

Life has been difficult for Martha’s family since she and her husband separated 10 years ago. She was pregnant with her youngest child at the time, but her ex has chosen to have no part in their family’s care or upbringing. He has also selected not to pay child support, despite court orders. He simply quits his job whenever wage garnishment catches up.

Now, it’s only Martha. Before, her husband could take the kids to the doctor or drop them off somewhere. Now it’s only her. And unlike many people, she doesn’t have a wider support network. There are no aunts, uncles, or siblings she can lean on. Everything falls on her shoulders alone.

Things took a turn for the worse when her family was forced from their home in early 2020. They should have been able to find a new place, but covid shut down everything, and no one was providing showings or leasing new rentals. The family became homeless in March 2020 and didn’t find a new home until August.

Securing shelter seemed like a turning point, but Martha fell down the stairs on their moving day, breaking both legs. Due to broken bones and mental illness, she could not work for about a year. Shortly after returning to the workforce, Martha caught covid in December 2021. When she had to take time off work, her job fired her. Everyone in the household got sick and was isolated for about seven weeks. It has proven impossible to catch up financially.

Now, Martha is facing a new challenge: her mother needs end-of-life care. Her mom currently lives in her own home because Martha’s does not have room and is inaccessible. So, Martha often drives 25 miles to help her several times daily. Her mother’s insurance will only cover a manual wheelchair, which she does not have the strength to use. Further, Martha’s car is on its last legs, and these visits run it into the ground even more.

Martha has tried seeking support from government programs but always gets turned down for some reason. One social worker seemed to disbelieve she needed help, saying, “You’re so articulate!” Another offered nothing more than a reassurance that “You’ll be fine.” She doesn’t seem to fit many people’s image of someone who needs help, and racism makes navigating the system very difficult. The manic episodes that come with her mental illness also leave many people thinking that she can handle everything on her shoulders alone.

For all these reasons and more, her family needs a large amount of community support to become stable, let alone thrive.

How Martha will Use the Funds

Martha recently started a new job that will allow her to keep her family’s head above water, barring any emergencies. But it will not allow her to get caught up on all of her past-due bills. The family needs roughly $10,000 immediately to pay back rent and utilities, plus get much-needed car repairs. This amount will allow them to maintain the status quo with the same home, car, and other necessities.

But the status quo isn’t sustainable. Martha’s car will not survive much longer and cannot fit her entire family. It also serves as inadequate and inaccessible transportation for her mother. A vehicle of the size she needs will cost roughly $20,000. Due to a mountain of debt she has been unable to pay, she will not qualify for a car loan.

Finally, her family deserves a place to call their own, free from the constant threat of eviction and everyday indignities of neglectful upkeep by landlords. Martha also needs a home accessible to her mother for the remainder of her life. The balance of the funds we’re requesting will go towards purchasing a home. Securing a permanent place for Martha’s family to live will allow her a moment to breathe and focus on her health in a way she has not for a very long time, if ever. It will also enable her to give more back to the community and create a world where we all have our needs met.

Black people have been systemically denied access to wealth and redlined out of home ownership. White people owe more than we can ever repay. But this is a place we can start. Contributing generously to this GoFundMe will have a tangible impact on real people and gives you a chance to be a part of something bigger than yourself.

$100,000 is a lot of money, but it only takes 100 white people with access to wealth contributing $1,000 to meet Martha’s goal. One thousand of us can also do it by giving $100 each. That said, we appreciate contributions of any amount.

Those with funds can choose to change Martha’s family’s life forever, give her children a stable home, and provide her mother dignity in her final days. I hope you will join me on this journey by giving the maximum amount you can and sharing this fundraiser with your networks.