Generosity for Jade and Jorja

Jorja Garrett is a friendly, talented, and smart 16-year-old girl who immigrated from South Africa, along with her mother, Jade, and father, Geoff, about 4 years ago. Jade and Jorja recently lost Geoff, when he tragically took his life after continual struggles with depression and long COVID. Jorja has now been thrown into a world without her father, who was her protector and has to lose her home where she feels most secure. Geoff was the sole provider in the household. Now Jade is faced with selling their home, finding a place to rent, and finding a job to support their accommodation. Jade’s number one priority and hope is for Jorja to have at least one constant in her life — to continue to attend and graduate from Santa Margarita Catholic High School (SMCHS).

Geoff, Jade and Jorja when they first moved to the US:

This GoFundMe page is being set up to help cover Jorja’s tuition and to help Jade pay rent and bills while she finds a job. Jade is in the process of talking to the school about scholarship opportunities for Jorja.

Here is their story:

In 2019, Geoff, Jade, and Jorja moved from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Southern California. Geoff, came over to the US on an O-1 visa (Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement) to be the CEO of a company in the USA, which provides Enterprise Resource Planning solutions. Jorja had a hard time adjusting to her new environment, where classes were taught differently and she was bullied by her peers. She was extremely lonely and depressed.

Then the pandemic hit. In some ways, the isolation of remote learning put Jorja on a more level playing field with her classmates, but any chance she had to make friends and form a community was thwarted.

In May of 2021, Geoff was let go from his company which led to immense financial strain, deep depression, and the feeling of not being “good enough”. His belief in his abilities was never the same, and this affected his self-confidence in a way he never thought was possible.

Geoff managed to find work that November, but in the spring of 2022, he contracted COVID while on a business trip. By now, this virus has touched everyone’s life in some form, but Geoff was one of the unfortunate ones to have to deal with the ramifications of long COVID. In Geoff’s case, he suffered from fatigue, brain fog, and chronic insomnia. As anyone who has suffered from insomnia knows, the anxiety from not sleeping for months on end takes its toll. Ultimately, Geoff’s struggles with depression, low self-confidence, financial strain and long COVID diminished his ability to do his work, which in turn cost him his job, and eventually his life.

Jade and Jorja were faced with the challenges of relocating 4 years ago… but they had Geoff. Now they must face them without him. They have found a home and community in Southern California and are hoping to stay here.

Jorja with her friends at SMCHS:

Jorja is now a sophomore at Santa Margarita Catholic High School. She has always loved performing, and at SMCHS she found her community in their theater arts program. SMCHS helped Jorja out of her depression and she has made wonderful friends. She is thriving there, both socially and academically. As everything else about her life is changing, the ability to stay at SMCHS is her one constant and provides stability for her. The love and support that she feels from her friends and school community will be essential for her own mental health as she deals with the loss of her father. To tear her away from that after all she has been through would be heartbreaking.

Projected expenses:

Rent: 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment/condo/townhouse $3.8K-$4K per month

Utilities: $500-$700

Tuition for one year at SMCHS: $23K

Fees: $1K

Books, other incidentals: $1.5K

Please help Jade and Jorja. No amount is too small. Please check Jade’s LinkedIn page

(https://www.linkedin.com/in/jade-garrett-604b0531/) if you think you can assist her with a job or mention in the comments if you have rental opportunities or scholarship opportunities. Thank you so much.