Each year on Remi's birthday, we try to help a local mother (or family) in need with no strings attached cash assistance. This February 11th would have been our Remi’s 8th birthday, and we’d like to once again open up our annual donation to any friends or family who would like to join us in honoring our strong boy.

With the help of Crystal from the Sac Homeless Union, we’ve found a family of 8 whose kids desperately need stable housing. Mom is disabled and Dad currently works but can’t get the hours required to sustain permanent housing, forcing them to move constantly between car and motel while keeping their kids active in school sports and trying their best to give them a sense of normalcy.

Note: please reach out to me on the side if you have any leads on available housing in the region

February is both the hardest and the most joyous month for our family. Thank you to all our wonderful family and friends who have helped make it a little lighter over the past 8 years.

Here is the Rhodes family story:

A few years ago, my family and I made the difficult decision to move from Sacramento to Las Vegas in hopes of creating a better future for our children. At first, both my wife and I were working at the same job and doing everything we could to stay stable. That changed when my wife became pregnant and was classified as high-risk. Her employer required her to leave the job, and our household was suddenly relying on a single income.

Despite working as hard as I could, one income was not enough to keep up with rent and basic living expenses. Eventually, we lost our housing and became homeless.

We tried to navigate life in Las Vegas while unhoused, but it became increasingly difficult especially with children. Believing we would have better access to support and stability, we made the hard decision to return home to Sacramento. We were promised employment upon our return, but that job did not come through until nearly two years later.

Since coming back, our family has been stuck in survival mode moving between motels and, at times, living in our car. Because many motels enforce strict stay limits, requiring families to leave for days or weeks at a time, we were forced to move frequently.

During one of these transitions, our car was towed with everything we owned inside. Losing our belongings set us back even further and made it even harder to regain stability.

We have been on housing waitlists since returning to Sacramento. Last summer, we were placed into a housing program and were told we would be approved for a four-bedroom home to accommodate our family. We paid rental application fees multiple times, only for the landlord to back out at the last minute. Shortly after that, the program dropped us entirely.

Another program later picked us up, but we are currently at a standstill. This may be our final month in the motel they placed us in. The motel is over 30 minutes away from our children’s school, and we are afraid to move them again without knowing where we will end up. We don’t want to uproot them or take away the small sense of consistency they still have.

I am currently working, while my wife who is pregnant again is trying to secure disability assistance. We continue to wait on housing lists, search for additional employment, and save every dollar we can toward stable housing.

Despite everything, I work hard every day to give my children the best life possible. We do everything we can to create a sense of normalcy for them. Some of my children are involved in football, and my daughter was previously in cheer. These activities mean the world to them they provide structure, confidence, and joy during an otherwise uncertain time. We make the best with what we have and continue to show up for our children, because they deserve more than just survival.

Our family includes eight people my wife, myself, our six children and we are expecting one more. Prolonged homelessness has already affected our children’s health and well-being, and we are doing everything in our power to protect them and move forward.

Thank you for listening ~The Rhodes family

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Remi’s Story: at 41 weeks we went to the hospital to deliver our healthy full-term boy. After a day and a half of labor, the doctor used a tool during delivery which ended up causing subgaleal hemorrhaging in a freak accident, causing him to slowly bleed out. We laid with him and held him while he fought for a whole day and a half alongside some amazing staff. He is our reminder to be strong, gritty, and to have empathy for all in this world.