Update! July 1 2025:

I was able to get a potential advocate through the county but appointment is not until next Tuesday.

i was able to turn my cell phone on and put the remainder towards rent totaling 500!

Catholics charities is still willing to donate but not until the remainder is paid.

I put all my benefits towards rent so another 750 will be there in the next day or so!

this still leaves a hefty portion but everyday I’m on the phone for hours trying to figure this out!!

if you have donated I’ll be sending you a message asking what three of your fav things are. For a little drawing I’m doing for all of you!!

thank you again to everyone catching me when I fall.

2019:

August:

Became a single parent. Court date set for early in 2020. At this point, I had been in pain for a long time from what I thought was the physical nature of my job as a hairdresser, having the baby, and life with scoliosis. Doctors continued to tell me nothing was wrong.

November:

After two emergency room visits, I had given up. I went into the ER; I had decided this was my last attempt at getting answers. I forced an MRI, and after many hours in the emergency department, the doctor told me about the tumors. I thought it was appendicitis. I guess it’s not the answer I thought it was, but I now had an answer.

2020:

Jan:

Went out on disability leave. Surgery to remove the tumors was set for the earliest available, May.

Feb:

The pandemic hit California. Lockdowns. Masks. Isolation. The doubled-up unemployment checks started rolling out. I wasn’t able to claim unemployment, for I was on disability, and that would have negated my being on disability.

May:

Surgery. The hospital was also quarantined. This was horrible for me; no visitors, couldn’t see my baby. This was the longest I had been away from her.

August:

Disability ran out. All the funds I had built up started to diminish.

2021/2022:

My spirit started to waver. I had slowly given up hope of anything changing. As I had dug myself out of debt, created a nest egg, and was in school for my BA. In my heart, I was going to be a teacher. I knew I could do it. That dream slowly faded.

At the end of this time period, the Cambras came to my rescue again. I became Lisa’s in-home support. The joy of this was income and the ability to work as I could, even stopping to take naps or relax at her home. Had this been anyone else, I wouldn’t have made it very long at this job.

The only home my daughter had known was taken over by a new owner, the owner of Black Tie Limo. Although I felt the realtor wasn’t very helpful, she was just doing her job. But the owner had a distaste for me from the beginning. Was it because I had gotten the full amount of rent paid for with rental assistance?! Was it because he knew I didn’t work but didn’t know why?! I tried so hard to sustain. The crazy thing is that the rent in that single-family home was less than my current rent in a one-bedroom apartment. He had male workers on the property every other day, put huge moving pods on the property to which he expected us to use to move our things with no knowledge of anything to do with them, where they came from, or the contract with them. I feared I would lose all of our stuff too.

Late this year, I gave up. I was getting sicker and sicker with the mounting stress. The tensions between him and me mounted every day. I was afraid to leave the house. So I left that apartment. To not only share the bad, he did give us a small sum that wouldn’t even cover a deposit or the first month’s rent.

I had to leave and give away many significant items.

Luckily, Lisa opened her home to us.

2023:

Lisa moved with family in Castro Valley. I was so happy for her to move forward in this new chapter of her life.

Initially, I had a roommate, but his mental health teetered, and I had to ask him to leave. I was able to extend the room to another close friend. That soon came to an end as well, as it was a short-term agreement from the start.

At this point, I had been denied SSDI multiple times and was in the appeal process.

2024:

I fell behind in rent. Tried to take out loans, apply for grants and aid. Nothing sustained the rent. But I had no way of saving for a deposit. I was sharing a room with Paisley.

Jan: I was to be awarded back pay.

September: I was finally awarded back pay. I paid for nearly 9 months' rent and a few small debts. And made sure I was able to make Paisley’s birthday and Christmas were not going to be barren. I know that in times like these, splurging isn’t the answer. But one thing I have tried to do was hide the financial/housing struggles from Paisley.

2025:

Rent was paid in full in advance until about April, still having a bit of a spillover to May.

My dad and stepmom stepped in and helped again. Both my mom and dad up to this point had helped in numerous ways: monetarily, emotionally, with Paisley, and more. Even my longest friend, my best friend, and Paisley’s godmother steps in and helps anytime she can. I owe her so much more than I can ever put a value on.

Unfortunately, the ability for my parents to help out monetarily was gone.

May:

I allocated all of my aid to rent, about $800.

This has been my main income since the other funds ran out. To think, after 20 years of being a stylist, my funds that I paid into ran out. It’s so confusing. I worked at about 30-40% commission most of my career, meaning no hourly wage, whereas most commissioned employees make both. But that is a battle I’m unable to fight right now.

June:

This brings us up to date. I have been on the phone, going to all the places instructed. To no avail. Still, I’m not cleared to go back to work. I have continued the appeal process with SSDI.

Again, all of the funds were allocated to my rent. But I was served a three-day notice this week, Monday 6/9. All of my rent payments have been accepted. Still, the notice. I asked about a payment plan for the back rent as my new lawyer for the SSDI case said this should be taken care of in a few months. My hopes are low, but my perseverance has always been high.

I have applied for every funding source possible.

The amount I am asking for covers the back rent, a smog check to get valid tags on my car (they expired October 2024), and finally, July’s rent. This is to offer me a bit of a cushion to work on August rent.