<div>(Edited to add additional ways to support at the bottom if you prefer other platforms instead of GFM.)
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<div>Last April, I made a fundraiser called “Preparing to Become Homeless Again.” After three years of trying to survive a rent increase of $500 to $2000 and then $2400 a month, we ran out of income and into debt covering basic utilities. The purpose of the fundraiser was to help cover the rent through the summer/early fall and to best position ourselves for long-term homelessness.
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<div>In addition to the last few months of rent, with the donations from that campaign, we were able to purchase a 40-year-old camper and get it towed to a shop, repaired, replace the tires, and the roof sealed to make it more livable in the cold and rainy Washington winter. After we moved out of our home in early October, remaining funds were put towards trying to prepare the RV for long-term survival.
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<div>It became clear very quickly that being free of our rent did not free us from other expenses of poverty. We are currently paying over $1000 a month in storage costs for items we couldn’t part with or sell in time before we left our home. My mother has devoted a lot of time trying to sort and downsize these storage units, but she can’t do that and bring in income at the same time. Her summer job of selling fruit at a fruit stand will start again in April, and her available time to sort will be even more limited then.
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<div>Our sewing and embroidery shop, Laurie Makes, has been frozen as we have no time or space for her machine and supplies to complete orders. It’s been very frustrating to her as sewing was more than just an income source for her; it’s her way to destress and relax. She will turn 68 this month, and it worries me a lot to see her working herself from before sunrise to after sunset doing grocery delivery apps, but she’s also a very stubborn woman and does not know the definition of “take a break.” She’s definitely where I got my work ethic from.
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<div>Moving to the camper has been stressful for all of us, as it has no running water, and the built-in refrigerator (as old as the camper itself) gave out a little less than a month in. We rely on bottled water for both drinking and cooking attempts. We can’t wash dishes well without boiling a lot of our limited water, taking everything outside, and spending half the day, so we use a lot of disposable plates and microwave meals.
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<div>The inconsistency in hygiene and reliable food sources has been really difficult on my chronic illness (Neurofibromatosis, a genetic disease that causes chronic migraines and tumor growths on nerves), and I’ve been to the ER twice since the move.
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<div>It’s also been extremely difficult to avoid moisture and mold/mildew growth in the wet Washington climates. I think RVs in general were not made to overwinter in wet/cold places, and the fact that this one is decades old does not help.
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<div>I’ve noticed that even with two portable dehumidifiers running 24/7, the pillows nearest the outer wall and the mattress area lining it are always wet. I’ve sprayed and wiped mildew growth from the walls below the windows multiple times. I’ve been waking with coughs and nosebleeds more often. My migraines are more common, and I’m so exhausted all the time, dealing with a near-constant brain fog when awake that only seems to clear when I can leave the camper for a few hours.
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<div>But I can’t really leave the camper that often.
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<div>We pay $40 per person to access an LA Fitness membership to shower, but the location we’ve safely parked the camper is a good ten miles from any source of civilization, so we shower about once a week. It costs $50 minimum to do a load of laundry at the laundromat, so we only do that about once a month.
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<div>There is no cell service available out here if the power goes out, and that tends to happen about every other time it heavily rains or winds. The wilderness also has dangers for our pets. A local dog has already gone missing, feared eaten by the coyotes we hear at night, so it’s not safe to leave our dogs out here alone.
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<div>My brother was laid off due to budget cuts in early November but got a new job working graveyard janitor shifts for the school system late December, so he’s catching up on past due insurance and other bills. I spent the holidays on triple deadline and only have one left to finish (hopefully by the end of February), then need to write a short story for an anthology and start preparing my option book. My next novel—A ROGUE THORN, a Scooby Doo YA novel—releases in July and I’m working hard to plan a good promotional period for it and perhaps book more events this summer. The paperback of my debut released February 4th.
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<div>My family is doing all we can to try and help ourselves.
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<div>This fundraiser is a fresh start in our request for ongoing support. I’m doing all I can to work toward more book deals/event income, but right now all of my funds that don’t go to direct living expenses goes to covering minimums on the debt I accrued trying to avoid this outcome. Even that has been a struggle. My mother’s credit is already shot, so keeping mine healthy is our only chance of ever qualifying for another real home someday.
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<div>But I won’t lie, it feels fruitless most days. A friend worried before we even moved out here that “someone with your health issues can’t live in these conditions for an extended period of time” but I didn’t think it would take less than four months to break me down like this. I am supposed to be providing for and protecting my aging mother, not the other way around.
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<div>I don’t know what to do. If there’s mold growing in the wet pillows and mattress, they need to be replaced, but we can’t afford that. If we don’t want the problems to worsen or reoccur, we need to make next fall’s winterization efforts stronger, but we can’t afford that. We can’t afford to upgrade to a newer camper with better sealing and working plumbing. The cost of that would be equivalent to a down payment on a house and we can’t afford basic utilities right now, even without the burden of rent. We have to make this work. I wish I had better ideas or solutions.
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<div>All I have is my transparency with you. I will continue to keep you updated on what we are doing. I’m sorry I was quiet last month. I’ve just been so tired. Thank you for reading and being there for us. I appreciate you all.
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<div>EDITED TO ADD because I was asked, here are additional ways to support if you don’t like GFM or would prefer to support elsewhere:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Venmo: @Lily-Meade-1
</div>
<div>Cashapp: $lilymeade
</div>
<div>Paypal direct link: Lily.la/paypal
</div>
<div>Patreon (best for ongoing support): Patreon.com/lilymeade
</div>

Anonymous

Kaitlin Judge

Emma Ryan

Aaliyah Jefferson

Lauren Bear

Katie Larson

Lindsay Ribar

Ongoing Support for Homeless Family

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Ongoing Support for Homeless Family

Still $2,507 to go. Help us build momentum.