Hello, my name is Raziel Rodriguez-Limon. My family and I have always faced financial troubles, but last year was the worst of those troubles. We were evicted in 2024, and we were desperate to find somewhere to live. My mother worked extremely hard to find a way out for us. The day we moved out, my younger sister suffered a mental health crisis, and which ended with her in the hospital. We stayed in America a bit longer to make sure she had the resources that she needs to be okay. Eventually, we ran out of options and our only hope was to go to Mexico where we had family. (By the way, my sister is completely okay now, and I am beyond proud of how hard she has worked and how much she has improved mentally).

Since then, we have been living in Navojoa with the support of our family here. But this year has been one of the worst we have faced. All of our water is stored in a tank above our house which lasts us about two weeks. Afterwards, we have to usually wait about a week or more for the tank to be refilled. In that time, we are unable to shower, flush when we use the restroom, wash our hands, wash hand wash our clothes, wash our dishes. We don’t make enough money to buy a lot of the food our bodies need, like cheese, milk, meat, bread. Those foods are rare for us and are genuinely delicacies for us.

Through applying for more than 50 apartments, we were finally accepted for an apartment in Tucson. My mother moved and is working hard in America to try to help us, but majority of the costs will be covered by my amazing girlfriend, who has some savings. It makes me feel awful to have to resort to that, which is why I am setting this up. In Tucson, we won’t have a car or a lot of money for groceries. It will be me, my girlfriend, and my two sisters. We have a two month lease, which means we will have to have jobs as soon as we get to Tucson (I have been applying for this last week, since we move November 17th). This last year has been my hardest, both physically and mentally. But through it all, I have done my best to stay positive. I love my family more than anything else, and I feel horrible for my girlfriend who has gone through this all with me. None of this would be possible without her. I want the burden of our rent and groceries and general costs in Tucson to be lighter, I want to be able to help my family in any way possible.

It has been hard for me to be able to have the courage to set this up, because I was afraid of being seen as weak. It pains me to seem like I am relying on other people, and it makes me feel like I am guilting people. But this situation we’re in has affected me in so many ways, but I feel like I have been hardened. I have become a much more mature and responsible person. So I swallowed my pride, and I decided that we need help. Absolutely anything would be appreciated, whether it’s a donation, links to resources that could help us in Tucson, help with jobs. We will take any help we can get.

Thank you for hearing my story, and I hope you have a wonderful day.