Urgent Help for Kim and Her Animals
Donation protected
Our friend, Kim, has fallen on very hard times and is essentially starting from scratch at age 62.
Kim is a local animal loving member of our community, and her situation was greatly amplified because of her inability to turn a blind eye to an animal in need. Kim has spent many years of her life taking in the unwanted, abused and abandoned animals, doing her best to ensure they were fed, safe and loved.
In February, Kim's sister and best friend passed away suddenly, leaving behind multiple pets, and financial obligations that are impossible for any one person to take over, ontop of their own obligations.
Within 2 weeks of her sisters passing, Kim's landlord began the eviction process of Kim and their combined animals.
This scenario put Kim in a desperate fight-or-flight mode, and Kim went into flight, quickly working to gather all of the cats and their essentials before prioritizing her own. Kim and the animals managed life inside a van for a few days, before resorting to asking for help from the community.
Kim is employable (and actively job searching, receiving call backs, and applying daily!), however, she has been out of work since this situation began to unfold.
While Kim works on job searching, she does also have a case worker to help connect her with the systems in place that provide assistance. It's unfortunate that the systems won't help until you've already hit rock bottom, though.
Kim is doing everything in her power to get her and her animals out of this situation, but she is still in desperate need of support from the community.
MOST URGENT NEEDS (what this GoFundMe will go towards):
- Kim has a storage unit with things she could save before losing access to her home. This storage unit needs to be paid ASAP, or she risks losing almost all of her personal belongings as well. This storage unit also holds quite a few sentimental things from her sister. THIS IS THE MOST URGENT EXPENSE AT THIS TIME - if we can save her storage unit, we can make this battle SO much easier down the line
- Kim needs money to go towards securing housing. Deposits are expensive! Rent is expensive! The quicker we can work to raise funds to secure housing, the quicker we can get Kim back on her feet
WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE:
- Half of Kim and her sister's cats (9) have been transferred to rescue.
- Half of Kim and her sister's cats are safe with foster (9)
- A local organization has offered to assist with the spay/neuter of the remaining animals - totaling about $1,600 in savings. The cats are actively being scheduled for vetting.
- Kim is currently in temporary housing. She is safe, however, the 'housing' does not have heat or AC.
- Kim has had 3 interviews in the last 2 days, and has received a call back already from the first interview. There is a bright light of hope on the job front! She IS employable, skilled, and willing to work.
- Kim is returning to her original part-time job, now that she is able to properly rest, bathe, and knows her animals are also safe.
If you are able, any donations towards Kim's situation would be deeply appreciated.
If you are unable to donate, please share!
Organizer and beneficiary
Emily Boyd
Organizer
Winston-Salem, NC
Kimberly Strickland
Beneficiary