Hi! My name is Jael. I’m a single mother to two boys - a 2 year old and a 5 year old with Down syndrome who attends special needs pre-k in Powder Springs. I’ve tried everything to keep us in our home - most recently, I’ve contacted several organizations hoping to receive assistance, none of them currently offer assistance for mortgage or rent so, here I am, asking for very much needed help. I’m aware how big of an ask this is, but if I don’t at least try, I won’t forgive myself.

Q: What will the donations be used for?: funds will be utilized for bringing mortgage and property taxes current. If the goal isn’t reached by the due date (Nov.19, 2024), funds will be used for packing materials, moving costs, and temporary housing until probate ends and funds from the sale will be released.

My mom passed from breast cancer in early November 2022. She hadn’t informed me of her stage 4 diagnosis until it was too late. I was 8 months pregnant when she went into the hospital mid October for an excruciating pain in her side which turned out to be a failing kidney - a blockage - likely from the excessive medications and chemo she had been given for 3 years.

November 1st, I was due to have a planned c-section, but because my blood pressure was so high during my final prenatal visit my doctor decided I needed to have an emergency c-section that day or risk a stroke and would not allow me to leave. While I sat in triage calling around and coordinating arrangements to have my, at the time, 3 year old picked up and cared for, my mom’s doctor called to inform me that she had no more than 2 weeks left to live. I was in denial for most of those days, until it was too obvious to deny he was right and she could be gone at any moment. 12 days after I had my second child, my mom was gone. She passed the morning of my 2 week check up.

Unfortunately, her passing so quickly left me with a financial burden I was not at all prepared for. My son and I lived with her and while I helped with utilities, I could not afford the cost of housing. She had 1 life insurance policy which covered the cost of her funeral. Her burial was provided by the military since she was a retired Navy veteran (Chief Petty Officer).

For the first year, I had managed to keep up with the mortgage payments, utilities, and property taxes by utilizing credit cards, selling household items and clothing, doing gig work, photo sessions here and there, money from canceled policies due to her death, and luck, but I've been struggling and have fallen behind this second year. Foreclosure is looming. I have until November 19th to make nearly $10,000. This figure includes the property taxes that have doubled since last year.

I'm in over my head with no help and I am exhausted. Still fighting, still optimistic, but exhausted. My absolute last result is short selling and hoping for the best. However, I don’t know how much we would lose or where we would go if/and after the sale.

My boys and I have gone through so many drastic changes over these last 2 years. I’m fighting to keep some consistency, some safety, some comfort not just for me, but for them. Please consider donating anything. I will also be selling nearly everything I own to either try to keep my 2 babies and I in our home or - in the worst case scenario - help with the transition out. Thank you for your time and your generosity.