Support Lila Sherman: A Bridge to Stability

Hi, all. Gina, here, and I’m hoping you will read on and help if you can!

Many of you know Ms. Lila Sherman, whether acquainted by having seen her around various venues, often times as a singer/performer, or perhaps you’ve seen her at church, at any number of charitable and other social gatherings, or maybe you’ve worked with her or perhaps have only heard of her; many, many of you are, indeed, old friends.

If you don’t know Lila Sherman, let me tell you a bit about how she has been an active member of the LGBTQ+ and larger Phoenix community for decades. Many recall her membership in the all-female, local blues band, Sistah Blue, and later, Sistahs Too; she’s played with many renown valley musicians, as some will, most likely, recall her performances in more recent years with Kenny Thames and local group, Pop Top. She has a history of being well-known in most local Blues circles, the LGBTQ+ community, and beyond. Ms. Sherman’s been publicly entertaining us for years and has sung at our churches, our weddings, our funerals and countless community events and special occasions over the years, while supporting local community businesses and various other local artists in turn.

I have witnessed moments when Lila, herself, stepped up to help others in need, including changing her entire life to become primary caregiver to her late sister, Juana, and caring and supporting other family members a few years back, as well helping other friends and acquaintances who have needed various levels of support, including myself, and I have watched Lila deliver, selflessly and without condition, helping others whenever and where ever she could.

I spoke with her a couple nights ago, and when she asked me for help with this GoFundMe, I knew instantly just how difficult that was for her to do; it’s a difficult thing for any of us to do, asking for help. She’s my dear friend and sister, and I wish my Hero and I, alone, could help more. Unfortunately, we are unable to stretch our support, which is why I am looking to community, in hopes that, as a collective, we can help Lila out of this tough spot, get her out of survival mode and back on a path to stability.

At this time, Lila needs cash help, a bridge of financial support, a leg up. Lila is one of the smartest and most savvy and resilient women I know. She’s a true survivor, but she’s been in survival mode for quite some time and just can’t seem to catch a real break. With a lack of supportive family, Lila has been relying on help from close friends, has been reassessing, reprioritizing and downsizing, and has a viable plan in place. Unfortunately, this plan has been thwarted with yet another setback that is beyond her control; her most recent employer, after several weeks of positive employment, let her go—like, ‘right to work’ state, you’re just fired out of nowhere, let go-- because she “wasn’t a good fit.”

Lila, being active in the job market and having the skills, education and history to secure gainful employment, already has a new position lined up, and it starts in about 2 weeks. The biggest challenge is that she’ll be without a paycheck for well over a month, and by then she will be further behind, which seriously disrupts her plans to reestablish herself in a place of her own, causing serious financial setback that threatens her well-being, to be sure.

Thankfully, our friend has a temporary roof over her head and is securing any other support she can from community organizations and non-profit assistance, like food assistance and other community support and advocacy, but her time crashing with a friend will come to a quick end in September, with very little flexibility.

Lila needs assistance with interim medical expenses, keeping her car note and insurance current, securing some moving expenses, and she needs to be ready to make deposits, initial rent and set-up utility deposits on a new apartment, which will need to be secured sooner than later, well before her move-out deadline.

If you could please help by donating, big or small, your assistance would be greatly appreciated. If you are unable to donate, please share this GoFundMe and/or keep our Sistah-friend in your positive thoughts and prayers.

I am grateful to you all… Thank you!