Story

My name is Cole, and I’m a single mom of three children. I never imagined I’d be in a position where I would have to ask for help from strangers, but I don’t know what else to do. The last ten years of my life have felt like a nonstop chain of bad luck — like I’ve been stuck in a storm that just won’t let up.

It started years ago when my car gave out due to a blown head gasket. That left me without transportation for a full year, and without a car, I lost my job. I tried to bounce back — used my tax refund two years in a row to get vehicles — but both were repossessed, and the most recent one was taken just a few weeks ago.

I began cleaning houses to make ends meet, and things started to stabilize, but then the pandemic hit and wiped out all my work. With no steady income, I fell behind on my mortgage — two years behind — and reached out to the mortgage company over and over for help. I was told I didn’t qualify for assistance, no matter how many times I asked or how desperate things got.

My only hope was the Homeowner Assistance Fund. I waited a year for the application to open. The very day it did, I submitted it immediately. That same day, I received a letter saying the house would be sold in ten days. I contacted the mortgage company to let them know I had applied, and both I and my caseworker were told not to worry — that everything would be paused.

The next morning, I came home to find a note on the door. The sheriff had come. My kids and I were locked out. I wasn’t even allowed to grab our clothes or my children’s toys. The following day, all of our belongings — everything we had — was thrown into a dumpster. I was threatened with felony charges just for asking about getting some of our things back.

And that wasn’t the end. The home sat on land I owned, but people were told they could take anything they wanted from the yard. Neighbors called me in shock to tell me people were helping themselves to everything — even draining my kids’ pool and trying to steal it. I caught two women and took pictures of their vehicle, but when I showed the photos to a deputy, she refused to even look at them. She told me I couldn’t use my own property address in the report because I had been “evicted.” From my own land.

Even after another deputy admitted someone on their team had told people it was okay to take things, nothing was ever done. No one was held responsible. Everything was just gone.

After losing the home, we stayed wherever we could — with friends, family, sometimes just wherever there was space. It took two years before I could even find a place to rent. The only place I could afford was a small mobile home, and even that costs twice as much as my old house payment. Since then, my lights have been shut off multiple times. Right now, we’ve been without electricity for two months because our bill skyrocketed by $1,200 in one month — something I can’t explain and can’t afford. My water has also been shut off. I’m now three months behind on rent.

The job I had ended when their contract wasn’t renewed, and I’ve been struggling to find anything since. With no car, it’s even harder to apply or commute anywhere. Every day I wake up and try to hold it together for my kids, but I’m drowning in bills, fear, and uncertainty.

I’m exhausted. I’m broken. But I’m still fighting.

I don’t want to give up. I just need help. Anything — truly anything — would make a difference. Whether it’s a donation, a share, or even just a kind word, it all matters right now.

Sincerely,
Cole+3