Adriana is a loving mother of three young boys who wake up every day carrying more grief, fear, and responsibility than any one person should have to bear alone. Last year, when her baby was just one month old, her partner passed away unexpectedly. In a single moment, she went from having a family, somewhat of a planned future, and someone to help her carry the weight of life, to a grieving mother struggling with postpartum, standing alone with three young children depending on her for everything. She lost her car and then her house, which caused her to be homeless with nowhere to go and she had to leave everything behind.

Living in Detroit, Adriana has no family support. She has no help since both her mother and grandmother are both deceased. There is no village, no safety net, no one to help her through motherhood, grief, or survival. Her children only have her and most days, she feels like she is breaking under the pressure of trying to fill every role at once. She’s just a mother doing her best to hold herself together for the sake of her children.

Today, Adriana and her three boys are living in unsafe and heartbreaking conditions. Her late boyfriend’s elderly mother and daughter has allowed them to stay in their living room temporarily of their tiny 2bedroom home even though it needs major repairs itself. Her and her children all sleep together on a single couch with no heat, infestation of pests, asbestos, mold, and sewage backup issues in the basement where they have to store what little belongings they have. She’s constantly trying to get into a shelter so she can get help and back on her feet, but they all are full to capacity and she’s told to try again daily…no hope.

Survival has become her daily reality especially with no transportation or stable income, and fear being told it’s the day they have to go and no where to go in the cold. Her older two children attend virtual school because that’s what works for them right now with everything going on in their lives. Every day she worries about her children’s safety, their health, and how much longer they can stay in those conditions. Every night she pray’s they make it through one more day without one of them getting sick.

Furthermore, an accident did end up happening recently that has made things even more harder for Adriana and made her feel like she has failed as a mother. Her oldest son was standing near the stove and his shirt caught fire, causing third-degree burns that required hospital stays along with skin grafts and still a long road to recovery and many Dr. visits. He was standing by the stove that they have on to help heat up the house. No child should ever be injured trying to keep warm, and no mother should have to live with that pain.

She stated that, “As a mother, it is a special kind of pain to watch your children struggle in ways you cannot protect them from. I’m fighting grief, homelessness, and motherhood all at once, and some days I don’t know how I’m still standing fighting but I keep going because they deserve more. They deserve stability, warmth, safety, and the chance to heal from everything they’ve been forced to endure so young.”

Adriana is open to relocating with her children if that is what it takes to start over and give them a new life, one where her boys can grow up safe, warm, and free from constant crisis.

This GoFundMe was created to help provide safe housing, heat and utilities, transportation, medical-related expenses, and basic necessities so Adriana’s boys can sleep in real beds, breathe clean air, go back to real school in person, live life instead of begin survival mode, and feel secure again. Every donation no matter the amount helps lift a family that is holding on by hope alone.

Your kindness could be the reason these children finally feel safe again.