Help D’juana with Housing While She Fights Cancer

My name is D’Juana Caldwell. I lived with and cared for my mother until she passed away in 2020 and her home had to be sold. I am disabled due to a heart condition and am living on SSID of $943 a month. I have tried to find low-income housing, but they aren’t taking applications because the waitlists are so long. My family paid my housing costs until 2023 when the funds ran out and since then my dog and I began living in my van.

In July of 2023, I became very ill and after multiple trips to the ER was referred to a hematologist who diagnosed me with stage 3 mantle cell lymphoma with a genetic mutation that makes this rare cancer aggressive and incurable. My doctor tells me that the average life expectancy with my cancer is three years from diagnosis, but with regular immunotherapy for now the cancer seems to be under control. I am so thankful to have Medicaid that pays for my regular testing and treatment.

In January, with a grant from an agency that helps people with cancer, I was able to rent a low income place.They told me to return in the spring to apply for the next funding year. My SSID funds help me insure and put fuel in my van, pay my utilities and supplement food I get from the foodbank. It has been such a blessing to have a bed, a bathroom with a shower, and access to a washer when I am feeling ill or exhausted from my treatments, and a kitchen to prepare and keep food I get. Unfortunately, when I returned to reapply for additional funds last month, the agency told me there would be no funds available this year. Since then, I have been calling every organization I can find to get help, but so far programs have been full or have lost funding.

I am hoping that this Go Fund Me can help me raise $ 4,500 or the equivalent of five months’ rent to keep me housed during the hot summer moths here in Florida while I continue to pursue grants and programs that may help me keep my rental unit for the rest of this year. This will also allow me to be able to put some money aside for later months of rent. I know times are tough for everyone right now, and I greatly appreciate any help you can give.