Cupcakes For A Cause Fundraiser For Family

The saga continues...and there isn't enough justice. Some of you know my story. Some of you don't. Allow me to give a brief rundown.

Hi, my name is Ana Barnes. I am a single mom of 3 (ages 8-3 years) and Domestic Violence Survivor. Since leaving my marriage, I have been juggling restarting our lives back over with making my best efforts to raise my little ones properly. Even though there are programs available that are meant to be helpful to single moms in this position, my experience has been these programs created more of a setback than a step forward with becoming grounded. Unfortunately, not many are aware of how flawed most of these systems are until they have to succumb to it. I hope to educate and bring more awareness to others about these kinds of issues in due time.

In the meantime, I am taking matters into my own hands to better stabilize the financial hardships we are experiencing. The struggle of being a single parent is real. The programs I sought out to for help treated my family like a number with little regard to our situation. After repeatedly seeing that many of the public programs and assistance have a faulty system of support (especially for DV Survivors) that aren't intended to truly help, but rather keep desperate families in stagnant positions (and sometimes worse off positions) so they become reliant on their programs...I reached out to my local community and shared my story. It was by the grace of Yah and with the help of a support network within the community that real supportive changes were made for my family.

One flawed system I am still experiencing is through child support. In a snapshot, there is an extremely large arrears balance still owed in addition to ongoing compliance payments that I have yet to receive since June 2023. I will soon have my 3rd new case worker navigating our case, with the lack of continuity resulting in setback after setback. To spare all of the details, I will simply share that child support enforcement has not been able to serve my ex-husband despite him having an attorney. Our last missed trial was scheduled in February 2024. As unreal as all this might sound, I am still waiting to hear an update from this new case worker for a rescheduled hearing and we are now in May with no still word from CSES on what is happening with my case. Nothing more can be done on their end to rectify the financial hardships this waiting has caused. As a result of the above, I hope you can see why I must take matters into my own hands because the kids have needs that can't wait.

As I continue to compensate for the missed payments however I can, matters just recently became more challenging. Despite my many efforts and great strides I made, I was faced with curveball after curveball in 2023. My business went on a decline. Child support payments abruptly stopped in June right after I enrolled my younger two into a Montessori school. Emergency car repairs sprang up on me. Life was basically trying to keep me down from multiple angles. The snowball effect of that rolled over into 2024. I had no choice but to pull my younger two out of their Montessori preschool for a time being due to affordability. Around this same time, we almost lost our home. However, throughout all of this, I have not wavered in my faith that the Most High is a rewarder of those who believe He is and diligently seek Him. I trusted in His timing even though things appeared to be falling apart.

I am grateful to say, we didn't lose our home. Although challenges are still present, I am putting my best foot forward to use what I have to make better of this season. During a period of seeking guidance on what to do next with my challenges, I was able to expand on services with digital marketing for my LLC business. I set up a YouTube Cooking Channel (@Dairy-Free Dinners) as a tool for free marketing. I am preparing an ecommerce store to sell merchandise I design to generate another source of income. Alongside this, I am getting ready to take a position with my children's Montessori preschool to help reduce the costs so they can continue out this school year. As all of this is unfolds, I will humbly admit that I'm in critical need of help to make ends meet.

So, what does that all have to do with cupcakes? Glad you asked!!! Cupcakes For A Cause is a fundraising event to help my family better stabilize our current position. I will be fundraising Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes in an additional effort to raise money for rent, bills, and childcare costs. I am hoping to raise $5,000. If you would like to show your support, please donate to this GoFundMe or come out and grab a tasty Vegan Vanilla Cupcake! Pre-orders available also for local orders only. Contact option below. Location to purchase cupcakes will be posted in the updates of this fundraiser. Please reference, come out, and support!

Thank you for taking the time to read this all the way through. I am praying our heavenly Father Yah blesses all those helping my family!