For 20 years, my friend (our friend) has poured her entire heart into A Light In The Night, the nonprofit she founded after hearing about a man who froze to death on the streets of Albuquerque. That moment broke her open, and she vowed no one in our city would ever go cold or unseen if she could help it. And for two decades, she has kept that promise — showing up in the dark, in the cold, and in the moments when people have nowhere else to turn. She has given warmth, dignity, and survival gear to thousands of unhoused neighbors. She has never asked for anything back.

But now she is the one who needs help.

During the long months she cared for her partner of 20 years and best friend, Wolfe, life fell apart in ways that anyone who has been a caregiver understands far too well. She faced impossible choices every day: stay by his side or keep working, grieve or keep up with bills, keep the nonprofit going or collapse under the weight of loss.

She chose love. She chose Wolfe. She chose showing up for others even when she was breaking.

And the debt that built up during that time wasn’t from irresponsibility — it was the cost of surviving a medical crisis, of caregiving, of losing income, and of trying to keep a community nonprofit alive through grief.

Now, in the aftermath of losing her best friend and trying to rebuild her footing, she is being sued for that past-due credit card debt. The stress and fear this has added, on top of the grief she already carries, is more than anyone should face alone.

This fundraiser isn’t to reward overspending. It’s to help someone who has spent 20 years helping others — someone who kept people alive in the cold for two decades — get through a moment that would crush most of us.

If you are able to donate — whether it’s $5, $25, or simply sharing this page — it will lift a huge weight off her shoulders. It will help her breathe again. It will allow her to continue the work she’s devoted her life to, without a lawsuit and a pile of debt holding her down.

Thank you for seeing her humanity, honoring Wolfe’s memory, and supporting a woman who has spent her life supporting everyone else.