Hello, my name is Yashika. I’m a single mom of 2 amazing girls ages 4 & 9 yrs old. I am not sure how to go about this so I guess I start from where it all began.
On Dec. 20, 2018 I lost my Husband to a attempted robbery. Unfortunately, our oldest daughter who was 5yrs old at the time witnessed the entire thing. On that day he called when he got off work like he did every day to let me know he was on his way & to see if we needed anything before he headed home. I told him no; we are fine and we quickly ended the conversation because I was feeding our 4-month-old daughter at the time. My oldest daughter was happy when she heard her dad was on the way home so she climbed on the sofa to look out the window, as she did every evening. He spoiled her with treats or a small gift (along with bear hugs) just about every day so she was always excited when he came home & watched out the window until he arrived. After about 20mins he finally pulled up & I heard my daughter shout excitedly DADDY! She climbed down off the sofa and ran to the door to open it. She stood there for a few minutes then asked me “Mommy who is Daddy talking to?” I laid our baby in her playpen then headed toward the door but before I reached the door, I heard 2 shots fired. I ran toward the door to grab my 5yr old & I seen someone fleeing the scene. My eyes quickly turned toward my husband as I noticed him staggering toward the house before collapsing on the sidewalk. My entire body went numb which seemed like it lasted forever before I was hit by a wave of emotions. My neighbor ran over to attend to my girls as I ran to try to grab him. Hearing people shot “don’t move him” I sat there and held him as he struggled to breath while he slowly bleed out, he touched my face & looked at me with so much fear & love in his eyes then he stopped breathing. His case was never solved and the pandemic hit right after.
Over the next few years, I worked hard to take care of my girls. My neighbor who I had become very close with since moving to Charlotte prior to my husband’s death was a retired nurse. She watched my girls for me (free of charge) while I worked full time & took on a side gig delivering packages in my own car to make ends meet. Unfortunately, she passed away in 2021 from Covid Pneumonia. This was another devastating lost for me as she was the closest thing I had to a mom. I was raised in the system since the age of 2, in and out of homes and never met my biological family. My husband came from a small family. He never knew his dad and his mom passed away from cancer when he was 10yrs old…his grandmother raised him alone after that.
I managed to hold it all together financially up until September of last year before things turned for the worst. I had to quit my full-time job because child care was just so expensive, causing me to exhaust my savings. I started to worked my side gig full time while my oldest daughter attended school & my youngest went on deliveries with me but it just wasn’t enough to handle all our financial needs.
I went to court last week for back rent and was given 30 days (Aug.12th) to vacate the property and pay the back rent & fees totaling $4,872 by the time we vacate to avoid an eviction be placed on my record. As I left the courtroom, I burst into tear thinking where am I going to find that kind of money on top of the money needed to move and cover other bills and keep food on the table. I was given a sheet that had some names & numbers of places that may be able to help but most were out of funding and the others I didn’t qualify for because I wasn’t homeless for more than 30 days yet. I tried applying for a loan but over the past year my credit score to a huge plunge due my situation. I even started selling household items and furniture on the Facebook market to try and get up some money. I figured we can sleep on the floor as long as we had a roof over our heads, we can always get more when things get better but it’s nowhere near enough.
We have been through a lot both mentally and emotionally since losing my husband but I never gave up on making it work because my kids need me but I am starting to feel defeated. We have 24 days left to vacate, $427 in my bank account and nowhere to go at the moment. PLEASE HELP US?!?!?
My youngest daughter will be starting school this year with her big sister & they will be attending the schools after school program so I will be able to go back to work full time & I also plan on keeping my side gig. I’m a hard worker & very motivated I just need help making it through the next 2 months and we will be ok. I feel deeply ashamed to ask for such a amount of money but my goal is to reach $12,000 which $4,872 will go to my current landlord for back rent & court fees and the remaining $7,128 would be used toward getting a new place, bills and preparing the girls for school which starts the end of next month (Aug.29th).
Thanks for your time & support and please keep my daughters & I in your prayers