Hi everyone,

My name is Venus. I am a mom, artist, and a passionate supporter of artisans and local businesses.

On Friday morning, someone opened my car, and another person grabbed my arm, tearing me out of my car while I was charging it. They took my car without giving me a chance to take my clothing, meds, and cash out.

I was completely caught off guard, stranded in the middle of an unfamiliar place with no funds, car, or home. I had just driven all the way from CA back home to Texas, trying to rebuild my life from ground zero after abandoning everything for safety reasons. CA is nothing like it used to be. Any woman or mom is simply a sitting target, and I was fed up with seeing my home invaded multiple times. Quite frightening, really.

A terrifying ordeal to have your car taken after there was a misunderstanding on an account hold on my vehicle, which was not extended while I invested my earnings trying to save what I could on the road trip, taking off-the-grid jobs and investing to pay off the car and hoping to finally purchase a safe home in Austin.

Apparently, there is a wait period to withdraw from my bank and savings/share transfer to release hold on what I earned in shares. Unfortunately, the miscommunication amidst my nonstop work while struggling to make it back to Texas meant the hold order was somehow not recorded, and vehicles were sent to grab my car without alerting me ahead of time. Just when I thought I was finally getting a chance to breathe, I ended up left on the sidewalk with all my belongings confiscated in the car. They did not even allow me time to grab any change of clothes, my meds, and charging cables and equipment I use for work, so I can't even work and drive to locations I need to be to get paid for my tasks and earnings without so much as a car or a place to stay. I'm stranded outdoors with zero funds on me. I'm now asking for everyone's kind help and contribution. Even the smallest bit of donation would help a ton. I've searched all emergency housing, shelters, and hostels, which all have a minimum of a 1-month waiting list. Getting a hotel or ride anywhere is out of the question with no funds on me given the unexpected turn of events.

Not anything I expected or planned for, especially after the hardest time to recover amidst lockdown when a lot of us lost our stores.

In my case, it wasn't just a store; it was a full hacker attack on my savings, invasion of my home by what I learned are predatory syndicates targeting DVS moms who supposedly are primary targets. They try to lure women for all kinds of things I simply avoid.

My solution was to safely shut everything down after a massive loss and survive on the road back home to Texas, where I know women are in better shape given our values and the way we protect each other versus standing alone struggling to do everything in CA with no support and barely making it on a single mom's income against insanely inflated costs of living.

All my property in a storage unit, which I needed to ship back to Texas, was lost with all the hacking of my bank and their systems demanding I drive back in person to pay them directly since they refuse to let me pay through the phone or online. I thought it was strange and didn't want to take the risk of going back after seeing so many women disappear or be targeted in CA. I had to let it all go, which had all my business supplies and designs for my shop. So now I have to rebuild and start completely from scratch.

I'm now asking everyone for help with anything they can chip in to secure a place for at least a month while I wait for my new housing arrangement, get a car, or find where they have my car and put my life together.

The good news is that I made it out of nightmare CA. Only now, I have to ask for everyone's help just to keep safe and help me rebuild.

Thank you for taking the time to read, and whatever you can chip in helps tremendously.

FYI: I'm so glad to be back in Texas! ♥️

Yours sincerely,

Venus Templonuevo