Story

On July 10, 2024 our lives changed forever when my fiancé, Sgt. Christopher Whitney, took his own life in our family home. I was the one to find him, to try desperately to revive him, and to fail him and our family in doing so. The guilt, grief, the weight of this trauma is one I can’t describe to anyone fully, and one no one will understand unless they have been through it. This one hit different. It will haunt me every day while awake, and every night when I am sleeping. Additionally, the burdens he carried that he could no longer handle leading to his suicide, the bills, debts, financial obligations, are now mine to shoulder as well as the weight of losing someone so wonderful and irreplaceable, my best friend, the person I chose to love and make plans with.

As a full-time student, homemaker, mother, and disabled individual, I had no income at the time of his passing. Since then, my world has crumbled. Christopher’s ex took the car we shared two days after he died, leaving me without transportation until late September. Now, my daughter and I are facing the terrifying reality of eviction, homelessness, hunger, no power, water, let alone no phones or internet- which means no way to contact jobs, look for work, work from home, or make passive income.

Every day is a struggle just to meet basic needs. The uncertainty of how we are going to survive this adds to unbearable layers of stress we already have on top of the grief and trauma. I am doing every thing in my power, utilizing every avenue and resource available to find assistance so I can rebuild and care for my family, finish my Psychology degree, and try to not become a ghost with Christopher, to just live a life and not become a shell of a person, but the pressure of drowning in someone else’s’ debt and starting from zero is or feels impossible to overcome. I can’t rebuild if I’m stuck in quicksand and sinking.

I’m reaching out humbly, and shedding all pride asking for emergency funding to cover basic living expenses-rent, utilities, food, phone services- so my daughter and I can avoid homelessness and stabilize our absolutely destroyed lives. Any support you can offer will help us find a starting point again and take care of ourselves in this dark time.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story and for any help you can offer us as we fight to survive and rebuild from this unspeakable tragedy.

Hold the ones your love close, time is fleeting and often cut short.

With deepest gratitude,

Jess and Izzy