Help the Miers recover from hardship and loss

Dear everyone,

My name is Alberto Mier, and I want to help my elderly parents raise enough money to get them back on their feet. They own an almost 36-year-old small business in San Francisco, California called “La Canasta Take-Out,” which is about to be closed down due to landlord disputes and a complete lack of empathy from the property owner. After closing, they will have no other form of income, and I am genuinely worried for them considering that I am still in school and unable to support them financially. Both of my parents have been struggling to survive after a series of unfortunate events led them to the state they are in today.

In October of 2021, my father, age 76, was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic prostate cancer and is currently still on a heavy dosage of chemotherapy. Since then, he has informally retired from working at the business because he physically cannot handle it anymore. This made my mother take control of the business to keep us financially afloat, which has been extremely taxing on her mental and physical health. Not only is she managing the business, but she is also having to take care of my father and must be available to rush to his help at any moment. I was also gravely affected by this news and had to take a break from classes.

From January to August 2022, on top of having to deal with the horrible news of cancer, my parents fought a foreclosure fraud case involving our home: an unnamed entity, or organization, claimed ownership of our house after it was supposedly sold at a local auction. We did the most logical thing possible and hired an attorney, but unfortunately, we were unable to save our house. In August, my parents and I moved out of our house, and this forced them to rent storage units for our belongings. As anyone could imagine, this became very expensive, very quickly. Combined with decreasing sales from their business, my parents’ life became very hard for them to sustain, and it still proves to be a major issue.

After leaving their house, my parents began to live at my grandmother’s apartment, which she left us after she had passed. Unfortunately, since the business was not doing well, my parents fell behind on rent, and the landlord decided that it would be a good idea to evict us. Especially after what had just happened to our house, my parents and I were completely demoralized by this. To add to the apartment eviction, around the same time, they heard from their business’ landlord that he would start considering new leasees since we defaulted on one month of rent. Considering we have had this business for almost 36 years, specifically 32 years at this location with the same landlord, the fact he would threaten to evict my parents is very unfair and outrageous.

At this moment, we are fighting the eviction case from our only residence: the apartment; however, my parents have already lost their case for the business since they are not gaining any profit, and it is being shut down. It is so sad to see that a local landlord cannot empathize with my parents, one of which is diagnosed with a terminal illness, and both of which started a long-standing San Francisco take-out restaurant. They will be out of funds soon, and after that, they will probably be forced to leave the apartment.

I am calling for help from those that can and are willing to provide it. My parents will need the raised money to bounce back since they must cover rent and general living expenses. Another part of these funds will go directly to my mother’s idea of starting a ghost kitchen, which should hopefully get us the stability we have been seeking. If you, or anyone you know, would like to donate, my parents and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your contribution. Even if you cannot donate for whatever reason, thank you for taking the time to read this. We will never lose hope, and we hope to pay this sentiment forward. Thank you, and God bless you all.

*video coming soon (YT link will be posted here)*