Support Tamika Jackson's Journey to Stability

May 2025 Update:

As usual things are pressing! And I am doing my best to maintain my wellness, mentally, physically, socially, and spiritually. This month marks a year I am without a secure roof over my head. During this time I have lived in my car, hotels, airbnb rooms and have stayed with friends. My current housing finds that I need to find safe space, again, as the home is currently being renovated due to water damage, which is an irony, as I found the leak that was leading to the damage of my friends' home. lol. We are currently cramped up with two dogs, a large, mean cat, a sweet 10 month old baby that smiles at me, and three busy womens. It is a lot! For everyone. (The sound of all the fans that are drying out the space where I was staying is more than one can handle, and, it might not be the safest to sleep in a space with so much exhaust.).

I am hustling every legal angle I have to maintain income, and tying up the loose ends of it all requires administrative focus that rivals that of a paid job. All the forms, emails, pdfs, timing...

I am still in need of your support. You all are keeping me sane in the middle of what could be a very insane blip in my timeline. And I do my best to stay present in the middle of all of it.

So what is bringing me joy these days in the midst of all the stress? It is SPRING IN SEATTLE! The flowers are wonderful, and you can find me sniffing in someone's front yard (not too far into it), the peonies popping up, roses, flowers I do not know the names of. My hikes to the library, grocery store, interviews, my job, give me the time to not only witness the foliage, but also the people flowers. My bus route is the literal taste of Seattle, and the scent of spices follows me back to where I will rest each night. I mentally say hello to all the Aunties and Uncles. Stopped the head of one Chinese Auntie from hitting the bus stair as the bus took off, and I was offering her my seat, she lost balance, and I just so happened to be standing where she fell. That Auntie had to be over 80! Being in the midst of life's struggle for itself is real, and I am sometimes frog throated over the immensity of humanity. This will be an interesting year to look back on when I have more time, and security, to fully reflect.

I have some possible job leads looking up. I tend to pass all my background checks (lol), and, I remain gracious. Thank you for your support. I am still in need.

Best.

Tamika

Someone gave me a million bucks!!!

April fools!!!

I still need your support to maintain until I am able to make a shift in my current paradigm. I show up for work, I maintain my health as best I can, which is always a slippery slope when you are an aging Black, woman. I have to consistently ask myself if the pains I experience are enough to seek professional consult, or whether if I stay with it long enough, nurse myself well enough, if I can make them stop, on my own. And I am doing my best to maintain my mental health. I have to say I believe some things have gotten better just with some consistency ( rest, nutrition, avoidance of drama as best I can), though I will admit I very well may need “somebody to talk to”. I will be working on that in the coming days. 

Again I want to thank you for helping me out when you can. I am honestly a bit ashamed I have to ask, but also sustained in my knowing that those who support are rooting for me. And while I may not be able to speak with you, know you, or return the favor right now, I am gaining an understanding about how care can manifest in life. Thank you for your care. 

Best. 

Tamika 

March Update: pi day

Life is suffering. I was taught this when first learning and studying Buddhist practice. Incidentally, during that time, I was unhoused as well. I had taken a semester off from Columbia, thinking I could work for a moment to offset the loan amount. Sadly, I was unable to find work, neither in my hometown, nor in Seattle ( things are sounding real pattern like, ya’ dig?). During that spring semester, I had the opportunity to “sit” for the first time, for ten days silence. And honestly, though I am unsure if I “sit” in exactly the same way as I was taught ( I have served and sat over 8 ten day, silent retreats since) the practice never leaves you. Being mindful of self, during truly difficult situations, is imperative. 

Sometimes I laugh at myself, because honestly I do not always respond to life with the panic situations may honestly call for. Maybe that’s trauma(lol), but being underwhelmed, maybe even bored with my own crises is real, yet I am still navigating what for me, is a bit of a calm, crisis. We all might be doing so. 

It looks like my housing situation must change again, though I was really hoping for some stability where I am now. I am unable to afford more than the next few more days. Will be moving the day before my birthday. 

This GoFundMe is a life line. Even though it was HOT, when I first started, I would hope that I can stay in grace, on your mind. Please re-share, share for the first to time, donate again if you can. 

Keeping my nose clean at 48, and attempting to protect my neck makes me recognize just how undervalued most people actually are. I hold myself in high esteem, and that in itself, surrounded by the self, and other, objectified people is threatening to some, and target making for me (mark creation?).

If you have supported me in any way, I thank you. I promise I am doing my best. Hell, I am dong better than many I am witness to who are in the same situation, but everything has a dark side to it. I need more support to be held up away from it. Please. And thank you. 

Best 

March 14, 2025 pi day. 

Update!

It is now February, and after a week or more of illness, job loss, and attempting to keep all of my administrative balls juggling (loose ends, taxes, public resources, stigma management, physical therapy), I am nervous. 

There seems to be some discussion as to whether I feel as if someone owes me something. Nope. Not at all. But what I am hoping is that every positive aspect of energy I have mustered over the years can come back to me manifold in a moment that keeps me anxious. Not always on my toes due to deep anxiety, stress, borderline hunger, lack of sleep…yes I know, this is most of us! Yet, I am hoping those with more can continue to share a bit with me, and collectively I can be held until the universe allows me to move forward. 

Maybe I f*cked up. And I rest assured in myself that though this is hard, leaving behind specific types of abuse is necessary. 

May we all be strong enough to help one another get through abuse(s). 

Best and Metta 

Tamika

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The opening of the New Year has me returning to a city I remember fondly. And though there are so many changes to the internal and external landscape of this city, there is a heart that exists here that helped raise me. Positively.

I am currently staying in an AirBnB, am searching for housing, applying for resources, and job searching. I am healthy, focused and hopeful.

Your support has brought me far! And I thank all of you, no matter the amount of your donation.

If you are unable to donate, please pass along to your networks. And as I have said before, time from those who have it is a great gift when life is stressful. A phone call, text, coffee, a meeting for lunch, if you are in the area, or FaceTime!, keeps a human being from feeling “disappeared”, ya’ dig? Even when they might have to.

Best, and, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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ORIGINAL MESSAGE.

Life is lifing! Not just for me, but understandably, for most. Yet I am at a point in my life, where the needs of others cannot be a priority, as maintaining the most foundational of human needs, shelter, has become unattainable. I have been living, first, in my car, beginning at the end of May. In August, a wheel fell off, literally, of my beloved, 2007 Mercedes-Benz, and after a night hanging out by the local Mall, I was entered into a local shelter program, where I was housed for two months in a Super 8 motel. On the 11th of this month, I was released from the shelter, by being told I was in non-compliance due to not working soon or fast enough.

I am currently working for the new Marshalls store that I helped open. Having never worked retail, I must say it is an intense, blue collar experience. The hours are long and hard on my aging body. And though I am having spinal issues and sometimes pretty severe neuropathy, I am doing all I can, in tandem, to remain strong. I still get some yoga and meditation in when I can find a peaceful moment. Ibuprofen is my bff. As well, carrying two days of clothing on my back is an effort in learning if I could keep up on a backpacking trip. :). ( I just might after all this).

My prospects for stable, safe, and clean shelter, either through an organization, or with others, is slim. There just are not many resources available through organizations. I am in contact with the local helpline, as well as having reached out to my EAP. Plus, being unhoused brings with it stigma. People want to know what I did to “deserve” such a situation: they may not feel safe having me there no matter how much of a ball of sunshine I am. lol. I can understand. Anyone could empathize that being unhoused is very stressful, and not everyone can cope with this extreme of hardship. Being wary of helping is reasonable.

So, I am asking a greater power: my public connections. I set my limit high, as I understand that if not really mindful, the day to day needs of food and shelter can become a cycle I am unable to break out of. My background gives me a unique understanding of where I am currently standing. And, I am asking for your support in order to overcome what I am afraid of; an entrance into chronic homelessness.

Even if you cannot donate, calling and checking in with me, the offer of a safe space to rest when I am not working or able to be sheltered in a hotel, lunch, a coffee…just a text message to talk, all of these things help support a more positive mental health surrounding a very difficult, lonely, and many times, frightening present.

In advance, I thank you for your help, and positive energy. Small support can heal a life.

Best.

Tamika Jackson