In 2014, a life estate that was left for my mother was taken from her by a relative who had a new will drawn up after her mother has passed which excluded her completely. In fear of retaliation she chose not to fight for her rights to her home. This caused her to take in-house care jobs to survive and get by; however, those slowly became less easy to obtain. With money running low and little family nearby she became unhoused.

A couple years ago we had to file a missing person’s report because she was sleeping in her car and nobody could find her. When the police did finally find her at a restaurant nearby, they found out that she had been towed in the middle of the night while sleeping in the backseat of her car. She woke up on the freeway, not knowing where she was and completely traumatized.

She is 73 years old now, suffering from depression and living in a coed housing shelter in Ventura that had given her hope of assistance in receiving housing, only to be given a notice to be out by April 30th. Unfortunately, if you do not have a drug or alcohol problem, they are not as quick to help you. They said that if she did have an alcohol or drug problem that she probably would’ve had housing assistance by now. I don’t understand the system.

She’s a strong woman who has been resilient and tried to persevere, but her faith is running low and with waiting lists everywhere, for housing assistance and other shelter options, she is feeling really hopeless.

This is a woman who always had it together, but unfortunately, everything was ripped from under her. When she lost her house, she had to put down her horse because she had nowhere to house him. She has been broken from the inside out, but still holding on by a thread. Any donation would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you have any ideas that may be of assistance for her, please feel free to reach out. I thank you in advance.