We need to share what really happened.

A while back we had no way to get to doctors, no way to work consistently, no way to move forward. The man we had sold our van to told us we could buy it back for $1,000. We talked it over and made the hardest decision we could.

We chose the van.

I put my entire check toward getting it back. We scraped together the extra hundred from Mom’s money. I knew in my gut it might come back to hurt us, but without transportation we were stuck. We felt like we had to try.

We tried so hard to catch up after that. Every Uber shift. Every delivery. Every little bit we could manage. But instead of getting ahead, we kept sliding further behind. Each delivery barely slowed the fall.

February came and went.

Mike’s health has been failing. His stamina is almost gone. His bowel issues make it hard for him to work consistently. What little income we could generate was not enough to close the gap.

By the beginning of March, we managed to scrape together $800 and got a money order for rent. Base rent is $760. Late fees are $75. But we were already two months behind, with previous late fees stacked on top. The land manager told us $800 was not enough. Even if we paid March, we would never be able to catch up enough to satisfy the owners. Every past due balance would just trigger another $75 fee.

There was no realistic way to get ahead.

So I made another hard decision.

Instead of handing over the $800 and still losing the apartment, I rented a storage unit. If we are going to be forced out, at least our belongings will be protected.

Now we are here.

We have about $20 to our name.

I am 49 years old and not in the best shape myself. I am packing up an entire two-bedroom apartment alone. Mom cannot help. Mike cannot help. I am doing this box by box, trying to move what I can into storage before time runs out.

Today, though, something unexpected happened.

We looked at an apartment that honestly feels like a dream compared to where we are. It is safe. It is clean. It feels like a place we could breathe again. For the first time in weeks, I felt a small spark of hope.

But hope requires resources.

Right now, this is what we are facing financially:

• Over $3,000 tied to the eviction situation • $500 for the new apartment application and related upfront costs (most of that is refundable if approved) • $875 for the apartment itself • Ongoing storage and moving expenses

We know the eviction balance is overwhelming. We also know we cannot fix everything at once. What we are trying to do right now is secure the new apartment so we have somewhere safe to land instead of falling into homelessness.

The immediate goal is $1,375 to cover the application costs and secure the apartment. Anything beyond that would go toward resolving the eviction balance and stabilizing us so we are not starting over from zero.

We chose the van because we thought transportation would save us.

Now we are trying to save our housing.

If you are able to help in any amount, it would mean more than we can say. If you cannot, please know that simply reading this and understanding what happened matters.

We are not asking for luxury.

We are asking for a chance to reset before we lose everything.