My name is Jennifer Peralta and I was diagnosed with ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease in March of 2021. I was in denial and stopped going to the doctors and fell victim to someone who I thought was my friend and caretaker. For the past 4 years, I slowly lost touch with everyone. I was being told that my friends and family didn't want anything to do with me. I stopped caring about myself and what was going to happen. My living conditions were not acceptable and my personal hygiene was neglected. I sat there day after day, unable to get up and go to the bathroom without assistance, and thinking to myself, If I don't do something to help myself right now, it won't be long before I can't even do that. So, I decided to get on social media and saw a post about family from my nephew. I commented on it and minutes later had a message from him. We did a video call and planned for a visit.

Next thing I knew, my nephew was standing in front of me. He left everything and came to my aid. He immediately started addressing my living conditions and hygiene. He went to human services to get my Medicaid fixed and to see if there is emergency housing for me. He soon realized that it wasn't just my physical condition at stake. My caretaker was constantly getting angry with me because of my physical limitations and would lash out at me. I insisted that my caretaker just needed a break and some space. We started looking for a bigger place to include my caretaker. After being woken up to me being yelled at and my needs not being met for the third morning in a row, my nephew physically removed me

and my things and we got a hotel room.

While my personal well-being and my mental state virtually improved overnight, the cost of hotel living is beyond our means until the end of the month when payday comes around or human services says they have emergency housing for me. If anyone can help us out financially to cover the cost of the hotel, food, and gas, it would be greatly appreciated! Even the smallest amount helps. Thank you!