Help Dorothy Gaines Avoid Homelessness

*UPDATE* Last year, we created this fundraiser to support Dorothy’s family as they faced the threat of unjust eviction. Now, she needs our help more than ever. 

After going public with her and her family’s story, Dorothy has found herself on the edge of homelessness. Come the end of Summer 2025, Dorothy will be forced to leave her home of the past 16 years with nowhere to go. You may have learned about Dorothy recently in an NPR piece (https://www.npr.org/2025/06/03/nx-s1-5413282/true-cost-of-prisons-and-jails-higher-than-many-realize) detailing how the costs of incarceration follow families for life. We are hoping to help provide Dorothy the financial resources she needs to find a new safe place to live and support herself through this scary transition. 

We ask that you give what you can in this dire time of need.

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The past few months have been extremely difficult for Dorothy Gaines’ granddaughter, Taylor, her granddaughter’s mom, Mary, and Dorothy.

It all started with Taylor being in and out of the hospital — 8 times as of now. Mary, a single mom, tried her best to work and care for her daughter. But the hospitalizations were too much - she lost her job seeing to her daughter. Then rent got two months behind. Mary had a nervous breakdown.

In November, Mary’s car was repo’d in the morning; her eviction letter came in the evening. They had to be gone by January 1. Never mind that they had lived in the apartment for 13 years without a write-up and offered to make up for the back rent. Taylor's doctor wrote a letter to say that evicting Taylor and her mom would likely result in Taylor's condition worsening - the landlord didn't care and the management company said they were getting evicted anyway.

The entire holiday season was filled with anguish and sorrow instead of joy. Taylor was separated from her mom, who is looking for work and a place to live. Dorothy has tried to care for Taylor as much as she can, but her ability to help is limited because of her stroke last year. The chaos caused by the eviction has resulted in Taylor being re-hospitalized, where she is today.

Taylor is a senior in high school and has already been accepted to the University of South Alabama -- but she still needs to graduate this year. Her bright future is threatened because of the eviction and the instability in her life it has caused.

Please donate anything you can to help Taylor, her mom, and Dorothy to get them through their difficult time. Thank you and God bless.