Marlene Erdman has a huge heart, but it’s about to be shattered. A few months ago she left her job as a recruiter for a small company, where she earned a low salary plus commissions, hoping to get a better position that would enable her to spend more time taking care of our mother, who is at an advanced stage of Parkinson’s and has glaucoma, and to help her 19-year-old son Diego with his education.

But things have not worked out as planned, and the business she is trying to start has not yet begun to turn a profit. After sending out over 60 job applications and trying various ways to generate income (even driving her car for UBER and Lift), at 48, Marlene is in a desperate situation, about to have to give up the house she rents in Chula Vista, CA, lose her car and declare bankruptcy, send her ailing mother to a government facility and her son to live with friends.

My name is Roxanna and I live in Mexico City; Marlene is my little sister and I am launching this campaign to help her because it is practically impossible to be able to send substantial aid from Mexico since the devaluation of the peso turns any amount we can muster into next to nothing in the U.S.  And we watch with great concern as Marlene, who has been the main breadwinner for her family for many years, not only cannot manage to have a quiet moment but now finds herself in an overwhelming situation.

Sixteen years ago, Marlene moved to Tijuana with her son, as a single mother, to help our mother, Alma, a retired nurse, take care of our grandparents, who could no longer live on their own. From then on, Marlene would get up at 4:30 every morning and drive 120 miles a day, taking her son to school, going to work and getting home at 9:00 at night, while her mother took care of the grandparents, who had complicated health problems. In 2011, after both grandparents had passed away, she finally found a modest house in California that would be suitable for our mother (who had begun to have serious trouble walking due to irreparable damage to both knees), and her teenage son. Unfortunately, within a few short months, her mother started having symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which quickly progressed, causing her overall health to decline.

Having to deal with a steady stream of serious health problems (first with the grandparents and now mother) while raising a son (who despite being exceptionally talented at music, has had to leave college for economic reasons) and trying to keep the household financially afloat, has not been easy. And now it has become impossible.

Using her extensive experience in personnel recruiting for the manufacturing industry, Marlene drew up a business plan for a private firm, Candidate Pal (visit its internet page, Facebook and other media), which prepares individuals to successfully undergo a personnel selection process. The idea is excellent, but start-up is, of course, slow, and in the meantime Marlene could lose everything, including her family. That is why I am turning to you, to ask you to help come up with the money that Marlene needs so urgently to make it through three or four months until she starts earning enough to get back on her feet.

Marlene has a very big heart; for years she has taken care of her loved ones, even at the expense of her own wellbeing. Can we lend her a hand through this tough situation?