Hi everyone,

I'm Sarah, a former dog trainer in Los Angeles, CA. On April 11th, I had a severe concussion that resulted in binocular vision dysfunction, post-concussion syndrome, speech impairments, short term memory loss, struggles with reading and comprehension, and more.

Since I was a small business owner, I didn't qualify for disability and have been struggling to get financial assistance despite my injury completely debilitating me and preventing me from being able to work. For the last several months I have done my best to handle this matter privately through insurance, and healthcare.

Due to my situation and the combination of all the different invisible disabilities, I have struggled to find support, financial assistance, and the proper resources. I am now reaching out to my community for help during this time. If you or your friends are able to donate to my GoFundMe, I would greatly appreciate it.

A brief timeline for more context of our story:

As some of you may know, the end of 2024 was a really difficult time for me and my family

November 2024

I lost both of my grandparents , who raised me, five days apart. Given that this was in the Philippines, we had quite a bit of expenses and I wasn't able to make any income.

December 2024

Came back for the holidays, attempting to recover in all ways: emotionally, mentally, and financially. Just to go through the Los Angeles Fires.

January 7th - 8th, 2025

Evacuated due to the Eaton Fire.

January 22nd

I arrived back at our apartment, and while thankful that the structure was not damaged, found a lot of my belongings in the living room to have been damaged by ash. I had to throw away some of my belongings as it was not salvageable, nor safe for me or the dogs.

January 31st

Found out I had to move, gathered all my belongings and evacuated my building within three days to move to a new apartment.

April 11th

Had a severe concussion that affected me physically, my sight, memory, comprehension, my speech, and multiple layers of cognitive abilities, on top of my already existing ADHD.

I have been unable to work and trying to navigate disability since then, but due to my concussion and my cognitive abilities being severely impaired, reading, comprehending instructions, or new information, the tasks I have to do to make progress with my medical needs as well as day-to-day necessities, it's been extremely difficult to make progress financially, as well as mentally and emotionally.

Five months into my concussion has felt like a year in itself. The last five months of struggling to make progress with the different layers of cognitive function has shed a lot of light regarding the misunderstandings and the things we are still learning about the brain and how much is required of us to function in day-to-day life. Paired with recovering from a data breach and learning how to re-do everything, while still navigating the medical stuff as well as grieving, it has been a lot to say the least.

I have been an avid advocate of mental and emotional well-being, and this experience has given me passion to also share more about concussion recovery along with creating art that resonates with the different forms of healing we need.

I would greatly appreciate it if you are able to support me through this time as I recover and heal. Funds would be used to cover basic needs, help with rent (current and past due) to ensure I am able to have a safe home, ensure my dog is healthy, pet insurance, her other needs are covered, and if we are able to raise enough to cover basic needs, vision therapy or other health related therapy to assist with concussion recovery.

Thank you to all of you for taking the time to read this, and for everyone who's supported me and my work for years prior.