Bay Area fam, I need your help! My car was impounded for outdated registration yesterday. The DMV won’t release my new registration stickers until I pay off existing parking tickets, but my car is my livelihood and I can’t make the money to pay the tickets off while the car is impounded—and the cost to get it back increases every day.

I’m a former stay-at-home mom without a college degree just trying to get back on my feet after my marriage collapsed. I now have steady work and I’ve been able to keep myself afloat, but both of my jobs require me to have a car.

Mine is just one example of many how the state punishes those in poverty with penalties that exacerbate poverty. I don’t want to become one more casualty of a gentrifying Oakland, forced to leave my home because I can’t keep up with the constantly inflating cost of living. I still believe in an Oakland that keeps community and compassion at its core. I’m counting on that now as I ask for your help—please help me get my car back, break this cycle, and remain self-sufficient!