My name is Athena and asking for help like this is something I never imagined I would have to do.

In 2021, I moved from Columbus, Ohio to Georgia with my family. We built this home together — a place meant to support all of us as my parents aged, a place where my son (now 12) would grow up surrounded by family, stability, and a strong support system.

We came during the Covid shutdown, with my employer’s blessing to relocate, a good mortgage rate, and the hope of a fresh start. We were out of the city. We got dogs. It felt like the beginning of something good.

But everything changed, piece by piece.

My mom passed away in January 2022.

My father moved out the next year and remarried soon after.

I was laid off in August 2025 and started doing gig work while searching for something stable.

Then, in January 2026, my brother — who had been part of the plan for this home — moved out suddenly, without notice.

The family support system this house was built for simply… disappeared. And with it went the emotional and financial foundation I was counting on. I fell behind faster than I could recover. I tried to keep up, tried to fix things, tried to stay strong for my son, but the weight of everything — grief, job loss, financial strain, and the collapse of the family structure we built this home around — became too much.

Now the foreclosure is complete, and we have to leave our home on Monday. I don’t yet know where we will go. I’m trying to pack, trying to stay calm for my boy, trying to figure out our next step while everything feels like it’s falling apart.

I’m asking for help because I don’t know what else to do. I need to get my son and our dogs somewhere safe while I continue job searching and rebuilding. Even a small amount helps more than you can imagine. I’m not looking for anything beyond temporary stability — a roof, a little time, and a chance to breathe long enough to get back on my feet.

If you can’t donate, sharing this means the world to us.

Thank you for reading, for caring, and for giving my family a chance to start again.

— Athena