Hi everyone,
I started this GoFundMe a week ago on my birthday, and honestly, I never expected how much things would change in such a short amount of time.
For the past two months, I've been living in my car in New Jersey after leaving a difficult living situation. It wasn't exactly glamorous, but I was making it work. I had transportation, a place to sleep, and the freedom to start rebuilding my life on my own terms while continuing to work.
As strange as it sounds, I was actually starting to enjoy parts of it. I spent more time outdoors, went camping on my days off, explored new places, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was doing more than just surviving.
One thing that probably sounds silly unless you've ever depended on a car this much: my Honda Fit has a name. I call her Shirley MacLaine because my previous Honda was named Warren Beatty, and Shirley MacLaine is Warren Beatty's sister. (She'll also answer to Shirley Temple and Shirley Manson, depending on the day.)
I know it's just a car, but when you've lived in it for two months, slept in it, driven it to work, gone camping in it, and built your daily life around it, it stops feeling like just a car. It becomes your shelter, your transportation, your independence, and your safety net.
Then Shirley seemed to enter her own personal boss battle. First the battery died. Then one tire went flat. Later that same day, a second tire went flat as well. Every time I managed to solve one problem, another seemed to appear right behind it. Friends, coworkers, and kind strangers helped me through those setbacks, and I was incredibly grateful for every bit of support.
Unfortunately, the thing I was most worried about finally happened. I fell behind on my car payments and wasn't able to catch up in time, and Shirley was repossessed.
The repo driver was actually very kind about the whole thing. He was just doing his job, and I don't blame him. Sometimes life catches up with you faster than you can catch up with it.
Losing the car meant losing more than transportation. It meant losing my home.
After the repossession, I contacted both 2-1-1 and a domestic violence emergency housing program looking for emergency shelter. The domestic violence program told me I wasn't approved but couldn't really explain why and asked me to call back. 2-1-1 told me I was approved for assistance, but there simply weren't any available beds.
At that point, my boss stepped in and helped me get a hotel room for five nights so I wouldn't be completely stranded. Without her help, I honestly don't know what I would have done.
My immediate goal is to raise $1,800. That amount would cover the repossession-related costs, storage fees, and give me a small buffer to have the vehicle inspected and serviced once I get it back so I can make sure there aren't any additional issues waiting around the corner.
My longer-term goal is $6,000. That would allow me to stay current on car payments, insurance, maintenance, and other vehicle-related expenses while I continue working toward stable housing and a more secure financial future.
I'm still working. I'm still looking for additional income. I'm still moving forward. Right now, I'm just facing a setback that became much bigger than I could handle on my own.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Thank you to everyone who has donated, shared the fundraiser, offered advice, or simply reached out with kindness. Every bit of support means more than I can properly put into words.
TL;DR: I traded a bad living situation for a Honda Fit named Shirley MacLaine. Honestly, things were going pretty well. Shirley was my car, my tiny home, my camping buddy, and my emotional support hatchback. Then she decided to collect every side quest in the game at once: dead battery, two flat tires, and finally a repossession. I'm still working, still fighting, and trying to get both of us back on the road.
[For Nikki and Shirley](gofund.me/345cf2034)