Emergency Relocation

Hi, my name is Lori. Your favorite kitchen witch and cookie maker. *deep breath* Here we go...

2020 was a lot for so many of us. I wish I could say it was all a not-so-distant memory but, sadly. NOPE. The effects of it continue to affect us all. And for me - right now more than ever.

As many of you know I was recently in Nashville for a family emergency. While that has all thankfully sorted itself out; while I was there, a five-day to evacuate the premises eviction notice was left on my door.

I knew this was coming but I had no idea when or how quickly it would all go down. Long story short, before COVID I had two jobs and was chugging right along. Once the city locked down, I lost both those jobs. For months before my UE was approved I had ZERO coming in. Which set me back. BIG time. I am STILL trying to get myself back to pre-2020 financial status. I created my little cookie business out of dire necessity. No ifs, ands, or buts. And I did everything possible to try to stay afloat while building the business.

I was granted a housing allotment for my back rent but the city ran out of money before the payout happened. Even though my slumlord was guaranteed to receive that money at some point, the moment the eviction moratoriums were lifted - she began eviction proceedings. From a home that I have lived at for nearly twelve years.

So here I am, a single mom. I have a disabled child still living with me. I'm a small business owner. Active community member. Animal foster. And as of next Friday, I'm not going to have a place to live. Homelessness is NOT an issue of merely the mentally disabled or addicted. This is our next pandemic and it is affecting me first-hand.

I had already planned to move out of California in the next few years but this has put me into crisis mode and frankly speaking, I'm not in a position to resolve my situation without crowd-sourcing for some support. I've gone back and forth about doing this after a few different friends suggested it.

While I'm the first person to acknowledge that "a closed mouth don't get fed," - I certainly never imagined that it would be me creating one of these for MYSELF. My crazy, favorite P.I.T.A. friend said to me "We live in the US where we're forced to gofund our way to pay bills/funerals/surgeries." This statement hit HARD.

Not only because it is sadly - horribly, true. But also because if I can't ask for help in the very community that I've served - where else would I? I don't come from means at all. I've 1,2,3 jobs at a time kept myself and my three daughters supported.

So here I am. And here is what I need.

*Somewhere to stay from January 22 - March 10. I'll likely need to rent an airbnb or something since I have the pups.

*I need to get my car fixed and towed to the shop for that.

*And then I need to cover my moving expenses. From California, off of the main 49. I found a home in Puerto Rico and that's my goal to get moved to.

Sounds so romantic right? It would be if I had unlimited coffers of cash, I guess. So right now it's: HOW DO I MAKE IT HAPPEN??

So I guess I set the goal lower than what I actually need because as much as I want to believe that this will work, I'm afraid to think of what happens if it doesn't. I know I probably should have made and shared this a week ago but pride is a MFer and asking for help is hard. Ooof. If the number is met or surpassed, I'll let myself be joyfully surprised and relieved.

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about all this so please feel free to hit me up.

I'll leave you with this. Those of you who know me, y'all know how long I will sit on things before I will share or open up my hand, heart and mouth to ask. But I'm doing that. Right now.

If you've made it this far. Thank you. <3