I am trying to help one of my best friends, Annie Calix, raise money to retain and pay for a criminal defense attorney.

Here's her backstory....

During the pandemic, Annie lost her dad to COVID-19. Shortly thereafter, one of her older brothers died suddenly from a brain aneurysm. She was at a very low point in her life and was dealing with depression in an unhealthy way. She was spiraling and self-medicating until she found herself in the grips of a serious drug addiction.

In Feb 2021, she was pulled over and arrested in Comal County for drug possession. She bonded out, agreeing to check in weekly with the bond company until her court date came about. Immediately, Annie began to work on turning her life around.

She researched treatment facilities and on March 24, 2021, ended up willingly going to Fullbrook, a rehab facility in Fredericksburg, TX. While there, she honestly did the work they suggested in order to begin her recovery. After her successful completion of the program, she went to live at the Moreno House, a sober living house for 90 days. While there, she continued her recovery journey by attending 120 AA/NA meetings in the 90 days and continued working through the 12 steps with her sponsor. She got a job working at Paws Pet Resort and contributed to the Yellow Heart Memorial for COVID victims and survivors.

After her time at the Moreno House, Annie moved to Houston with her family and continued doing whatever she could to keep working on her recovery. She worked out daily in order to further progress the healthy lifestyle commitment made to herself. She started teaching Celebrate Recovery classes and even worked with Charm Prison Ministries where she was able to share her testimony and success story with inmates currently in the criminal justice system. Her success continued to drive her forward in her recovery, so much so that she never looked back and has left her previous life far behind her.

She continued her weekly check-ins with the bail bonds company this entire time, waiting to hear when her case would be brought to the courts for her to finally get it all behind her. She has been clean from all drugs and alcohol since March 25, 2021, and thus celebrated many milestones in her recovery.

Recently, she was applying for her passport and was denied because she was flagged with a warrant out of Comal County. She reached out to the bond company for clarification and they had to call the sheriff's office to confirm this was in fact the case.

Annie was devastated that she was not informed of her indictment and therefore appears to be a "fugitive on the run" for "not complying". But very obviously, someone made a mistake and Annie is now having to start over again with the bond process. Basically, the bond she was already out on, that was paid for and current and being successfully complied with, would need to be reinstated AFTER she turned herself in. This is another $3,000 necessary to get her back out to basically where she already was in the entire process. She has spoken with an attorney, which will cost another $10,000 for him to defend her... as long as the case doesn't go to trial.

We are pleading with friends, family, and the community to help contribute whatever they are willing in order to help with the costs associated with Annie's situation. Every bit helps.

Please help us help Annie to get this finally all the way behind her. She has come so far in her recovery journey in the last 4+ years and is truly an inspiration to so many that have been or are still in their addiction. #wedorecover

If its easier to donate cash app or Venmo, you can send to my acct listed below... be sure to put "help Annie" in the note section

$MerylUnger is cash app

@Meryl-Unger is my venmo

Thank you all in advance!!