From Teen Mom to Cafe Owner: A Dream Awaits

Hi there! I just want to give a great big thanks for allowing me this time to share with you a campaign I am running to promote my future viability! Part of what I want to say is, no matter where you come from, childhood upbringing you may have had, and what you have been through, never give up on your dreams. You have only one life to live and do not get a do-over. So go after what you want and lean on those that are close to you and love you to help you get there! Most importantly, place God at the forefront of it all!!

I am considered a statistic. Raised in a single-parent home, I should have dropped out of school, lived way below the poverty level, possibly had a drug addiction, or been welfare dependent. This all for the fact that I was a teenage mother. I had my first child at 15 in my freshman year in high school and my second child at 18 in my senior year. In the county of Tulare, California, in the '90s, we had the highest rate in the country for teenage pregnancy. However, I was determined. Determined NOT to have the life that I was predisposed to. I graduated 8 months pregnant WITH my class. I walked that stage proud and felt stronger for it! With all that was set against me, I attended a vocational college to be able to have a trade to work and support my children. At the age of 23, I had my third child but was still determined to continue my education. I slowly but surely continued but was never able to complete it, being that I was now a family of 5 (including my husband)!

Fast forward to 2014, my youngest graduates, and I am now able to continue my education and obtain my first degree. I am now, in an era of my life, that I am able to pursue my lifelong dream of opening up my own quaint cafe coffee shop. I have tried at all possible to steer clear of obtaining any loans so that my transition can be smooth and not have any debt hanging over my shoulder. In reality, however, I lost my job last month, making it difficult to continue this dream as I was using that to fund my cafe and complete the last of what I need to open up. I am here to ask for your support so that I may be able to continue on this journey! I ask for you to help me build this dream, that I should have otherwise been destined to only view as a far-off distant fantasy. God has been at the forefront of all that I have been accomplishing. When I lost my job, that should have been the time where I could have given up and let go of it all. I am determined. Determined to not let life's setbacks pull me down and hold me there. I have opened up my heart and allowed the vulnerability to show that I am real, I have real-life struggles but keep reaching for success just as you can too!

I am creating this crowdfunding campaign to help raise capital. If I can have 200 people donate just $10, I promise you, your generosity will NOT go unnoticed! If not $10, ANYTHING helps and is greatly appreciated! God bless and thank you for your support.