Help Melissa & Keenan Bring Home Their Belongings

I have been friends with Melissa Suther since 1997 when we met in the dorms at Evergreen State College.

Melissa was a part of many Olympia local community groups for years - KAOS, TCTV, and ORLA to name some. Then in 2014 she and her family moved to Baltimore for better job opportunities.

After nine years in Baltimore, a difficult separation, and divorce, last year Melissa and Keenan drove cross country and returned to their beloved Olympia community!

Melissa and Keenan are finding their place again in Olympia and have been struggling financially over the last year. Melissa currently has a full-time job teaching preschool, along with side gigs tending bar and selling art on Etsy.

Even with these jobs, Melissa has not been able to save up enough to get her POD storage container shipped to Olympia from the East Coast. This POD storage contains most of Melissa and Keenan's belongings. They arrived in Olympia with just what would fit in their car.

It would cost $1800 for the storage container to get here, and this would give Melissa and Keenan the opportunity to be surrounded by their keepsakes and familiar family items again, as well as the rest of their clothes, coats, bags, and some furniture.

An extra $1800 is not easy to scrape together for many of us these days, and Melissa has been working hard in the last ten months to find employment, housing, pay bills, and to keep her car running. Saving $1800 beyond that has not been possible.

As it comes up on the first anniversary of their move back, I want to help Melissa and Keenan get this last thing accomplished so they can really feel at home again in Oly. Melissa is balancing jobs, her son's needs, and has also been reconnecting with Olympia friends. I hope we can support her so she and Keenan can be surrounded by her keepsakes from her mom and grandma and have all the things they need to make them feel at home.