Hello all, I am coming out of isolation after some major life transitions, challenges, and blessings that have gone down over the last year, to ask for community support. I have never done any crowd funding before and admittedly feel a little strange about it, but I have been blessed with a once in a lifetime opportunity and I do not want to pass it up because I am struggling financially. Since I have been off of social media for a while, it seems some life updates are in order first.

Earlier this year I moved back into my little cabin in the woods after separating from my partner of many years, this was a hard transition but ultimately for the best. I was able to purchase my little cabin on land contract at the end of 2024 and it has been an absolute privilege to have a solid home base to return to. I also enrolled in college at NMC and am currently in my second semester of my freshman year. I am going for a social work degree and by next spring I will be able to transfer to a four year university to complete my bachelors degree. After that I hope to apply to graduate school at U of M where I plan to obtain my master’s degree in social work and clinical therapy. This has been a long time dream of mine and I only recently harnessed the courage to go for it. I am soon to be 37 years old and did not have any previous college experience, so I am going full time so I can get my degrees and hopefully begin my career shortly after I enter my 40’s.

I love school. My goal was just to pass and earn the credits I need to advance, but I really gave it my all, and I am actually doing very well. In my first semester I earned a 4.0, making the Dean’s List and securing an invitation to join The International Honors Society. Not only that, but I have been invited to study abroad with my social work class in Kenya this spring, a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel to another country to support a cause that is very close to my heart.

If I am able to participate, the social work cohort of the group will be working with women and girls who are experiencing period poverty in Kenya. Last semester our social work group helped to put on a fundraiser that raised $7000 for the Kenyan based organization called PadMad. PadMad has helped to create reusable period products for women and girls in Kenya, helping them to stay in school and to keep them safe from the stigmatization, shaming, and sometimes even sexual exploitation that comes with having a lack of access to these materials. PadMad has also created jobs for women who have been severely sexually abused, ostracized, and who have been othered from their communities. On top of that they are dedicated to providing sexual education to women, girls, men, and boys in as many communities as they can reach to help stop the stigmatization of the women's menstrual cycle and to provide deeper understanding about sexual health.

We will also be staying in a village with Maasai women who have escaped the harsh gender norms and conditioning of their tribes. They have liberated themselves from abuse, genital mutilation, and obtained their own land and livestock, which is very taboo for women in Kenya. While we are there we will be working in service to them, helping with chores and in the gardens, and we will even be joining them on a trip to the market to purchase livestock, which is a very big deal. We will also be joined by biology students and creative writing students and we will travel with them to experience the flora and fauna of West Africa. Our presence will very much be in service to the Maasai women’s leadership and at their request, and in no way imposing our beliefs of what is best for them. We are there to help and listen and observe and share.

My social work professor and academic advisor have advocated extremely hard for me to be able to join this trip. As a non-traditional student who is older with more lived experience they believe I will have a lot to contribute to the younger students on the trip as well as the Maasai women who are graciously hosting us in their village in Kenya. I really hope to be able to go, as women’s empowerment and liberation from abuse is a cause that is very near and dear to my heart. Although, the trip is very expensive and from where I currently sit, it is financially inaccessible.

As I stated before, this past year has been extremely challenging and full of upheaval. Going to school full time in a single income household was not what I initially planned for, but I am meeting the challenge with as much grace and tenacity as I can muster. I am currently taking 17 credits and working 2 to 3 days a week, and picking up side work whenever I can. I am working as a snowboard instructor at Schuss Mountain and doing in-home care, massage therapy, and professional cleaning on the side. I am unable to receive benefits from DHS based on how much I am working, despite not bringing home enough money to pay my bills each month. In the last few months I have been experiencing intermittent food insecurity as well as struggling to pay my mortgage and utilities.

I am working as hard as I can to pay my bills and meet my needs, while also not turning away from the momentum I am building in my academic career. I am asking my community to help me help myself, so I can step out of the struggle and meet these opportunities that are knocking on my door. The trip to Kenya costs $4,500, I will also need to get a new passport and get some basic gear to travel with. Every extra cent will go to paying my mortgage, filling my propane tank, and keeping the power on. Every little bit will count and help me to stabilize so I can continue to put my all into school and be less distracted by trying to survive.

I will continue to work, so, if giving money away is not your thing please consider booking a massage, a snowboard lesson, tarot reading, or hiring me to clean your place. This time of financial struggle will hopefully be temporary, I plan to secure a paid summer internship in my field and will only be taking one night class in the summer semester, which will allow me to work more and hopefully save some money. Until then I am asking for your support. If I have ever supported you in any way, if my work in community has inspired you or lifted you up, if you believe in this work, please, contribute what you can. My goal is to raise $5,500. If you are unable to contribute please at least share this post. I have until March 15th to raise this money, which is a little less than 8 weeks. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.