A friend in need

We are starting a gofundme for an amazing human who is in need of some help.

Mercedes is one of the hardest workers and has a heart of gold. She’s been a veterinary surgical nurse for 15 years. She would never ask for a hand out since she has always provided for herself and anyone else around her. She has been victimized for the last 7 years and once she gets out of the mess she’s in, her life will be better than ever.

Mercedes met a person 7 years ago that was a true criminal. Normally, she’s a fantastic judge of character but in this situation, she was professionally and criminally conned. She become a target of abuse, manipulation, gas lighting and brainwashing. She had a man living with her who had a significant criminal record. He was existing with a false identity and had multiple warrants out for him.

When she finally saw a glimpse of the light that could free her, she gained enough courage to make a change. Thank goodness she managed to not get physically hurt this time but he stole everything of hers with monetary and emotional value. He was apprehended in a high speed police chase on the Mass Pike after being on the run for almost two weeks.

Mercedes is trying to rebuild and the main reason why she needs help is to replace things that ‘the system’ should have helped her with. The local police have been wonderful in their emotional support but there doesn’t seem to be a budget for financial aid for victims like her. Her car, which was stolen, was very damaged and is now totaled with not enough replacement value to buy something functional. While on the run, he broken into her apartment and vandalized it. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like there’s enough man/ woman power to have 24/7 surveillance and if someone had been watching the apartment, he could have been caught earlier. Instead, she has to pay for the window that he broken to get in and to replace all of her items that he destroyed.

It seems like it could have been obvious to Mercedes throughout her relationship but this is a complete con and there was no way for her to see this coming. She, out of all people, has a ton of common sense and she is a great judge of character. She’s been through enough in her life to make her very street smart. This was tragic and unavoidable. We are so lucky that she made it out of this alive.

Please help her get back on her feet so she can continue to devote her life to animals as a highly skilled veterinary surgical nurse. The bulk of the fundraising is to get her a new car to get her to/from work so she doesn’t slide more into debt. I know she’ll pay it forward as soon as she’s able.