Last year was rough, I'm hoping this year is different for my kids & I so we can focus on our very necessary healing & our growth. I'm a single mom to 3 kids & on the 1st of January of this year we became homeless with our cat whom we had to ask someone to foster but we were finally accepted into an apartment unit at a shelter so we were able to get our floof brain back. The last few months have truly been a struggle for the kids causing them to have major setbacks on improvements they were able to make before our situation started. I have been lucky enough to be partnered with some programs that have professionals that have been helping me help them so they can get back on track during this hard phase of their little lives. We aren't able to go back to where we are from because not only would we have nowhere to go but we are domestic abuse & assault survivors who fled to be able to live in a place where after over a decade we don't have to live in fear anymore. Where we are it's the first state to ever truly help us by protecting us & keeping us hidden & I really don't want us to lose that.

I have had some major setbacks as well but with the help of our church, these programs, & a few people that are our emotional support cheerleaders I have been able to reach an amazing milestone in the middle of this chaos which is a whole year sober! The help that I'm getting has truly helped when the days are rough so I can stay focused on the path I have decided to take which is healthier for me. The lower back/hip issues I have due to 4 pinched nerves that start at my lower back & go to my hip from a new back injury on an older injury has worsened. The pain was usually on the left side where the lower back meets the hip & if became aggravated it would spread throughout my lower back to my right hip & down my right leg. But the last month or so the pain has switched to being on my right hip right where it meets my lower back making it very hard to walk sometimes & when aggravated it's just very excruciating pain. The meds are keeping the pain to this extent from what it could be but there's nothing else I can do at the moment.

We have been blessed to be allowed to stay here at the shelter unit until we are able to move into our new home. We had been approved to a new apartment that's part of a whole new complex still run by the people who run the shelter & a church which will be in a new city near to where we currently are but in a much better area. The unit we would be moving in to has never been lived in before so we would be the firsts to live there. We got VERY lucky that the supermarket is literally across the street & so is the dollar store, so it'll be very helpful for us. But right after I finished all the paperwork & process & all I had to do was sign the lease by early March, a major leak occurred in our unit right after I was blessed to see it thanks to the shelter lady taking me. I have no idea how long it'll take, all I was told not too long ago but not sure if it was true was that the wall had to be taken out to fix the issue that was caused by man error during construction. Then the painters would have to be called followed by the cleaners & then all the inspections need to be done by a few agencies to make sure it's ready to go.

This setback has really hurt us in an already very difficult & fragile situation. I get assistance with cash & food money but the sale price for the storage units we have ended at the end of March & this month it was felt. The first full payment to the unit took almost all of the cash assistance but we don't want to lose the little bit we have in our name. The food money runs out by the start of mid-month so the left-over of the cash assistance isn't enough to help us with food until the following month's reload date. When we run out of food we just munch on chips & sugar foods when we are able to get them from a small food pantry. But because we don't have a vehicle to use, we can't go to the different locations that offer hot meals throughout the day & simple things like toiletries & cleaning supplies. We also can't reach the bigger food pantries so we can be okay or even to the free laundry services we can go to because we still have to pay to clean our clothes at the shelter.

Please help us in any way you can, even if it's by sharing to other people that can help us so we can get food, simple supplies, & even be able to wash our laundry.

The kids & I together with our floof brain Romeo are very grateful for you!