My name is Laura Griffith and I need a little help from anyone who is willing. The past year has hit me incredibly hard financially. Then, on September 4th, 2026, my dad passed away in Ecuador which became a snowball of issues. I truly feel like my life has fallen apart and I don't even know how to start picking up the pieces. I have no job, no apartment, and no dad. Instead of getting to grieve him, I have had to deal with lawyers, moving, and insurmountable stress.

At this point, time is the thing that is getting in my way because earning money takes time, but bills do not. I need to pay down credit card debt since I maxed them out for my dad’s cremation. I need to pay for my car and health insurance. I have to buy food for my pets. My dad's passing also includes some legal matters which had needed several lawyers, document fees, and unknown information. Not only does earning take time, but I don’t even have free time to try and make money.

But here is the full story:

It started in September 2025 when I was laid off from my job, which also means I lost my health insurance. I qualified for unemployment, but it didn't cover all my bills so I started dipping into savings. I was able to buy health insurance through the Colorado Marketplace, but that was still an extra expense.

Through this time I am applying for jobs everyday. Usually 7-10 applications a week, but nothing has worked out. I even spent 3 months getting an accelerated certificate in event planning from the Metropolitan State University of Denver, but it has not helped.

In April, my unemployment ran out. As I live alone and do not have a live-in partner (though my partner helped where she could), I started heavily relying on my savings and credit cards for my bills. I managed to get a job in May, but it was part-time and only $17 an hour so again, it helped, but barely.

Finally we get back to September 4th. My partner and I immediately jumped on a plane to Ecuador to retrieve my dad’s body. We knew very little about the process or how long we would need to stay. Unfortunately, dealing with a deceased loved one is expensive no matter where they live, but we also had to pay for flights, a hostel, food, and translators. We did have people offer to help which was very kind, but it still drained a lot of finances. We also ran into some legal complications with his property there and needed to hire a few lawyers who are still working on resolving that. We left after 3 weeks because we needed to get back to work on things here.

As I was not able to know how long we were going to be gone, I had to quit my job because they were not able to keep covering for my shifts.

Because of my already low funds and everything we had to spend in Ecuador, I could no longer pay rent and had to move out of my apartment. I am grateful to be moving in with my partner soon, even though there are complications with timing for that as well.

Any help you would be willing to give would be amazing and I would be eternally grateful.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your support in this very difficult time.