Let me introduce you to my friend, Marquia.

Marquia is the only reason that my family has survived the last year and a half. We live far away from family support and Michael and I have nobody here to help when things get hard. Or at least, we didn't until Marquia entered our lives. For the last 18 months, she has been the rock that we cling to when we need help. If I called her at 2 AM, she'd be on my doorstep by 2:15. She has been one of the only people to accept our special needs daughter for who she is, one of the only people who had tried to meet her where she is and help her succeed. She has been an absolute godsend to us. But now, she needs OUR help.

Last month, Marquia was in a vehicular collision that left her car on the verge of totaled. Thankfully she wasn't injured during this event, but it left her without reliable transportation to and from work. Hey employer utilizes an extremely punitive points system - if she is even a single second late clocking in, she's marked as tardy. And once a certain number of tardies are assigned, the employee is automatically terminated. I worked within this system myself and can attest to this. Despite the fact that she has always been a team player, willing to pick up extra shifts, and generally a rockstar, she lost her job due to being forced to rely on other people for rides to work. Even with only minutes late on the clock, she still was fired.

Thankfully, things are looking up. Her vehicle has been repaired and she's secured another position with a FAR more understanding employer. But, the repair bill on her car is substantial. She'll need to pay off the $5,000 repair bill before she can get her vehicle back, and her new job doesn't start until June.

This woman has been such a blessing to me and my family. She's truly a stellar individual who's simply fallen on hard times. She needs our help. She deserves our help. Please, any amount you can spare would go a long way towards getting her back on the path to security.