Sitongia Children Struggle for Emergency Shelter

Hello, my name is Ruth and I'm fundraising on behalf of my daughter & granddaughter. The last year and a half has been one tragedy after another that began with the sudden loss of my father on 3/2/23. It was very unexpected, it us without any sense of family, and very much alone in the world, and without family. Looking back, I can see it was only the beginning of what seems like constant state of crisis that just will not end.

It was only one month after losing my dad that I was laid off from work.I was there 6 years, and by May we were separated and without a home. I rented a room I found through a friend, and Vanessa stayed with her dad. I was sending for her, but as I saw my roommates descent into drug abuse, I held off. Until one day it became so unsafe. I put what I needed in a backpack, went to work & never went back. From there I slept in public restrooms and vacant strip malls, while still maintaining a FT job and saving to get back. At which time I was robbed from behind the counter at work,(Circle K) they took my phone and debit card, and because i had no address the bank wouldn't close my account, and so even after I called they were able to transfer my savings to my checking, and withdraw all of my checking through Cash App. It was all gone.

About now, my cousin in Peoria who was looking for me, and calling every Circle K in Mesa finally found me at the Circle K on Dobson & Broadway living out of my backpack and sleeping in a strip mal off the freewayl a few miles away in Tempe. He took me home to get on my feet and help me recover. I had been living on the streets about 2 months by then and was very malnourished, and anemic, and it showed. Vanessa, now pregnant was living with her boyfriend at his grandmothers.

Then on April 30, at about 8 AM we woke up to watch, in our pajamas and bare feet, as my cousin's house and everything in it completely burned down. My cousin, unlike myself, was able to rebuild through the trauma with the aid of her husband and family.

By now my daughter had her baby nut was no longer with her boyfriend and had to leave his grandmothers. She decided to reach out to her father. However, he denied to help her. Only recently remarried, all of his money and effort are currently tied up getting green cards for her and her children so that as he put it, "I can start my new family."

So for now she's sleeping in the living room at her sister's apartment but has to be out by the last week of June, and its the end of the line. There is no where for her to go. There's no emergency housingjere in Arizona, and the waiting lists are 1-2 years. I've scrimped and saved. Skipping meals, ignoring the holes in my work shoes, I've saved $950 so far, but it's still not enough, were in trouble and need help.

A studio apartment in Phoenix is at minimum $1,000 a month plus move-in costs (application, cleaning fee, admin fee) it's anywhere from $1,200 to $1,800 for move-in costs. So $900 in help would give us just enough at $1,850. The possibility of 4 walls and a bathroom would change our lives completely.

Thank you for anything you may be able to contribute or even just for sharing, and thank you for reading our story.