It’s difficult to even know where to start.. My name is Lisa. I’m a 36 year old artist/musician from Southern California, and I’ve been living in my car with my one eyed dog Sammy Davis Jr. I never thought I would be in a position where I would be asking people for money. I’ve worked for my entire adult life, I attended University of California Berkeley where I earned my Bachelors degree.
The last 3 years have been very difficult for me. Starting with my brother’s suicide in October of 2018, I really had a hard time resuming normal life. My brother and I were sharing a house, and after his death I found myself with no where to go. My family turned on me and each other, we were all hurt and looking for someone to blame. I had trouble concentrating at work and was incredibly depressed and started to consider suicide myself. I had a change of heart and decided to give life another chance, but my suicide attempt landed me in county jail with a firearms charge.
I was still emotionally fragile and feeling quite lost after I was released from jail a month later. I was very lonely and I met someone who seemed like they wanted to help me get my life back on track. Little did I know, this person was actually going to tear my life apart piece by piece until I had nothing left. I opened my heart up to a narcissist, moved in with them. I went back to work and gave them everything I had to offer… but it wasn’t enough. They took out loans in my name, sold my musical instruments, cheated on me constantly, lied to me everyday, totaled my car, destroyed my credit, committed credit card fraud in my name essentially framing me, and even tried to convince me to kill myself.
It took a while to figure out all of this had been going on. I was working full time in very busy, fine dining establishment. It wasn’t until Covid-19 hit and I stopped working that I began to see what this person was doing to my life, and who this person really was.
Last October, when I discovered the fraud done in my name, and uncovered the truth about the multitude of cheating that had occurred since the relationship began, I had finally had enough. My “partner” (who was really no partner at all) then tried to convince me to kill myself, probably out of fear that I would expose them for their crimes.
I once again found myself without a place to go. Since then I have been living in my car with my dog. I had been receiving unemployment so I could afford to get a motel room every few days to take a shower, and most of our basic needs were being met. Since April of this year I haven’t been receiving unemployment, I filed a new claim and was notified that I was approved to continue receiving benefits, but my payment status has been pending for months now without explanation.
I’d like to find a job, but without a place to keep my dog and without having had a shower or money to do laundry, I can’t find a job. I can’t leave my dog in a hot car in the Southern California sun. I need to find a place to rent where I can keep my dog, and I need to have clean clothes and be able to maintain good hygiene in order to start working again. I hope that is something that I will be able to accomplish when unemployment finally pays me, if they ever pay me.
Right now I just need any small amount of money. I’ve been completely out of gas for days, stuck in the car without air conditioning in temperatures over 110 degrees Fahrenheit. I haven’t showered in over a week, and my dog is nearly out of food. I’ve already borrowed all the money I could from the friends or family who were willing and able to lend it to me. I am feeling like I’ve run out of options and I’m running out of hope.
I know I can get my life back on track, and give my dog a better life than this, I just need a little help getting started. Any donation would help us so much, even if it’s just $5 to get the air conditioning going for a couple hours. Thank you for taking the time to read this and considering making a donation to any of the many worthy causes on this site, and the many people who are in need of help.
paypal.me/annalisacreations