Who would have ever thought that you would be hit from the repercussions of COVID19; one of the deadliest pandemic outbreaks that the history of humankind has ever been forced to face? Killing hundreds and thousands of people, deteriorating small businesses worldwide, and now we see these aftereffects in all of our local communities. This is the first time that I have ever truly felt and understood the old saying, “When it rains, it pours''. 


I took a leap of faith. As a mother of four making ends meet, I took a leap of faith in the name of not only my future — but my family’s future. I opened my salon business, while working full time and ubering the mornings before my shift started. It was scary, but business was picking up and I began to have hope for a better tomorrow. Three months after I opened my business, we were hit by the COVID19outbreak. Not only did business stop, but a week after that, I got laid off from my job too. After that, I got into a really bad collision that completely totaled my car. 


Even through all of this, I still had hope because at least there was financial support coming in from the government. All of my family members and friends began receiving their unemployment, tax returns, and stimulus packages, but for some reason, I’m still not able to get any of these benefits. I thought to myself, “What else could go wrong?”. I tried so hard to make things work, but it seems like no one or nothing is on my side. 


I don’t know what came over me, but I started my business with no backup funds either. I’ve been working at my salon in the morning, driving uber and working at other salons in the afternoon to cover the gaps. I’ve been working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week before the outbreak. I am currently 55 years old and I feel like time is not on my side. My goal is to raise enough money so that I can focus on working at my salon full time, building a clientele. I cannot just let this outbreak fail me. 


I am finally reaching out to you for your help by setting up a GoFundMe account. I am one of those people who hates asking for help, but now I have come to a realization that this is out of my control and sitting on my butt all day is not going to help me or take any of my worries away. I know that everyone is not in their best place during this crisis, but I don’t know where else to turn to anymore. Even the smallest donation would mean so much to me and my family.
Thank you for letting me share my story and for reading up until now. God bless you all.