Help Us Get a Car for Mama's Care

Please help our little family get a RAV-4 to fit Mama Jude’s mobility aids. She uses a walker or transport chair depending on how she’s doing and where we’re going, but neither of these fit well in our tiny car. It’s affecting our ability to go anywhere or get the care we need.

Mama Jude is a 79-year-old artist as well as a stroke and rare brain cancer survivor. She has persevered unexpectedly well, yet she has both physical and cognitive disabilities that require significant care.

That’s me. I’m the care. I’m her daughter, though she sometimes thinks I’m her mother. It’s been a beautiful, difficult decade of caregiving, and I’m grateful to have been able to have this time together.

I left my career in journalism to care for Mama, and I now write a blog (unpaid) about finding #OneGoodThing every day. It’s something Mama and I work on together and it’s helped us focus on finding light in dark times. We’ve just recently passed a milestone of 2225 days in a row.

The last six years have been especially difficult as I was diagnosed with multiple chronic autoimmune disorders that leave me in pain, fatigued, and nauseous every day. Between my own health issues and full-time solo caregiving, I am unable to work and don’t qualify for disability. Mama Jude and I live on a small, fixed income. We cannot afford a car payment and don’t qualify for a loan. That’s why we’re asking for your help.

We have been struggling with transportation that fits our mobility needs. I repeatedly hurt my back trying to load/unload Mama and her mobility devices in our car, and that has been stopping us from going to medical appointments or out at all.

After much research, Mama Jude and I tested various vehicles in person for the trunk size and height and the seat height. The best fit for our mobility needs is a Toyota RAV-4.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a good time to need a vehicle as there are few available and prices have skyrocketed. We don’t expect to get more than $4,000-$7,000 for our 13-year-old MINI Cooper with low mileage, and that isn’t enough to cover a used RAV-4.

Please help us raise funds to buy a Toyota RAV-4 so we can make sure Mama can make it to her appointments and get out into the world! Thank you so much for taking the time to read through this. Please help if you can—even if it’s just a few dollars. Thank you.