Hi there, my name is Erin. My sister, Karmen, and my 11-year-old nephew, Emerson, have had a really rough year. Karmen moved away from where she grew up here in Washington state due to how incredibly expensive it is to live here. She is working towards living an off-grid lifestyle after moving to Oklahoma in the summer of 2024. As a single mom, trying to do it all on her own has been challenging. What I admire most about her, though, is that no matter how hard things get, she keeps pushing through.

She purchased a 2.5-acre piece of land, cleared some trees, hauled blocks in, and bought a tiny home for her and Emerson to live in. She had Internet installed and purchased some power banks to cook food in an air fryer. Recently, she bought a wood stove, and some friends of hers came together to help her install it so she could safely have a way to keep them warm and to cook food this winter, all while she was studying to get her license to sell life insurance so she has a more stable income.

In the past few months, here are some of the challenges she's been faced with (after she's experienced a whole host of other challenges):

She lives on a very sharp rock gravel road, which creates a lot of wear and tear on any vehicle (especially the tires and struts), and at the time, she had an older sedan.

She had a side job doing Walmart deliveries and had 9 flat tire blowouts in the span of 5 months. She was barely making enough money to replace the tires as they blew out, much less catch her breath financially.

Then, in August of 2025, another driver ran into her vehicle in a parking lot, totaling her car. She and Emerson wanted to seek medical attention for whiplash but didn't have a car to get to the doctor's office. She waited for months to hear back from his insurance and didn't get nearly as much compensation as she should have based on the lost wages, etc.

Fortunately, with help from our friends and family, she was able to get another vehicle in October. Things seemed to be turning around for a little while until she had several more flat tires, and then one evening when she was driving, a big buck jumped in front of her vehicle, squishing the front of the car and ripping her bumper off. While I'm so grateful neither of them were hurt, she's just had one thing after another and is living in constant survival mode, barely able to catch her breath.

As if that wasn't enough, the other day (The day before Christmas Eve) she was driving to Walmart to do a delivery when her tire completely flew off. Fortunately, she and Emerson are okay, but her new-to-her car is now totaled. :(

It's Christmas day as I write this. I love my sister and Emerson so much, and I'm really hoping we can all rally around her. She is so incredibly selfless and goes out of her way to help everyone she knows, but has a really hard time asking for help as most of us do.

She is an amazing mother to my nephew, and I want her to feel as loved as she deserves.

The top priority is to raise some funds so she can make the payment for her tiny home and her property so she doesn't lose that. The next priority is for her to get electricity set up so she can work from home and have a stable income. Last but not least, to get another vehicle; one with strong tires and struts so she's able to go get groceries, etc., when needed without getting continuous flat tires.

Thank you so much for reading! If you are able to help her get back on her feet, please donate to the attached GoFundMe account. Karmen and Emerson appreciate your help more than words can express!