I am raising funds to help my mom, Guadalupe Abad, through an emotionally and financially turbulent time.  On April 11th, she flew to Peru in order to be with my grandma who was hospitalized. Being now fully vaccinated, she did not want to miss a possible last chance to see her mom, who lives out in a rural area of Peru. Beyond the emotional stress of the situation, we knew that this would cause a financial strain on her. Luckily, I had saved some money over the past few months and am awaiting a tax refund, so I agreed to pay for her flight. We, however, left it up in the air how we'd recover from the week of work she is missing, along with the possibility of having to quarantine when she gets back, further putting her in the red.

I also agreed to take care of my 10 year old sister Isabella. In my time caring for her, I have multiple times felt threatened by her father, an aggressive man who has in the past attempted to start a physical altercation with me. As the week progressed, my sister became more and more scared of him, and anytime he would call or text, she would either start crying, shaking, grab my arm, and once even began dry-heaving. After a week of harassment and attempts to force Isa to stay with him against her will, all of us ended up at the police station where the cops agreed that it will be safest if she stays with me until my mom returns. This is due to what I believe is emotional abuse and neglect. I have already started investigations through all the proper channels, but dealing with these issues has caused me to miss a lot work, further straining me financially. 

Isa and I are now waiting for our mom's return so that we can begin fighting for full custody, as he has not paid child support in years, has broken several of the agreed upon terms, and we suspect he has been driving the girl around without a license. We are unbelievably fortunate to have had a family friend agree to pay for the legal fees of this process, but that still leaves us facing the sunken costs of my mom's trip, as well as the lack of income we've both faced this week. To add insult to injury, my mom received a false positive covid-19 test result which caused her to not be able to take her original flight, meaning we've had to purchase another last minute flight at a large mark-up. 

By donating, you will be helping a single mother who, despite countless obstacles, has given every fiber of being to raising her two children. I felt her unconditional love as a child, but having the unique lens of seeing her raise my little sister has further proven to me how extraordinary she is. She is a brave women, who despite being born into a toxic environment and into a world that actively makes it difficult for women of color to succeed and find peace, has persevered with a seemingly infinite amount of love and care for the world. Your donation will let her be at peace during this difficult time, allowing her not only to pay her bills, but to have the breathing room to process the emotions of the traumatic week my family has experienced. We are eternally grateful for the love and help we've been shown so far.