We are a houseless Native disabled family of three. I am 52 year old single parent to two adult sons. I am an ambulatory wheelchair user. The oldest, Raphael, is 28 years old, autistic and ADHD. The youngest, Lio, is 26 years old, paralyzed and a full time wheelchair user.

Until a few years ago, we lived in Denver among some very toxic and ableist family. We were financially exploited and emotionally tortured for not being ‘productive’, for not being able to be live in servants and one individual managed to make two of us suicidal.

We moved back to Oglala on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation to live with family here. Our family lived in a tent for roughly two years. In a storm, our tent got shredded. We lived with a relative since then, but their unresolved toxicity pushed us to live as independently as possible. We managed to secure a larger 16’x20’ canvas tent with some damage. There were only enough heavy duty stakes for the main supports and not enough to secure the walls to the ground.

Today, high gusts ripped out the weaker stakes. Pushed the tent over and a wall support stake tore a new and large hole in the side wall.

What we desperately need:

-at least a dozen more heavy duty stakes

-awning repair tape for the small to medium holes

-heavy duty tarps to protect the holes in the roof

-sandbags to weigh down the wall on the windier side

-fence stakes for the corners that can be driven deep for better support

-extra battery for our little portable generator

Or a better tent, but still with the other support needs.

This is truly a desperate time for us. Only one of us can work and getting a new tent would be a few thousand that we can’t raise before winter. A stable home would be ideal, but that is also thousands more that we can’t afford.

Please, please share and donate if you are able. Help our disabled family live on the prairie as we heal. We can’t live with toxic family and our options are very limited, especially with two of us in wheelchairs.