SUCCCESS! Stand with Johnnie: A Fight for Security

CLOSING FUNDRAISER! new update in comments. THANK YOU!

Hi. My name is Kim Foster and I wrote a book about some amazing people in Las Vegas in my book: "The Meth Lunches Food and Longing in an American City ".

One of the chapters was about Johnnie, an LGBTQ, Puerto Rican cashier, who I met at Smith's Supermarket (Sahara + Maryland) in Las Vegas.

In the book I wrote about how Johnnie had been locked in a closet as a child and starved by her mother who was in psychosis from untreated schizophrenia. And how that hunger, that denial of food, was also a denial of love and how that came to define and carve out her life.

If you read my book, or shop at Smith's, you know this amazing person. She taught me what food deprivation does to a person long-term, bravely told her story to help others understand and she taught me how to care for my son's special needs who also experienced early life food deprivation. 

Johnnie works in a supermarket so she will always be surrouned by food. She has to work there. It's part of how she stays sane and balanced. She is frugal and lives with the basics. Her only extravagance is providing for her 3 babies/cats.

But this week, Johnnie and her beloved cats, were evicted from her longtime apartment. She was behind on rent last month.

Johnnie has worked at Smith's (Krogers) for 17 years. She is a loyal employee who takes care with customers and cares about her work. She has requested full time work over and over. But she has been denied. Full time work triggers benefits and more costs for the company, so they work it around. She makes $22.56 an hour but only gets about 24 hours week. If she leaves she loses her senority and her hourly rate. She has to be able to come in, so a second job is difficult. This a common issue with Kroger as reported by the NY Times.

Right now. Johnnie is staying with a friend who works with her - thank goodness for community. But she is struggling mentally with the uncertainty.

So, I'm asking for enough money so she can get a couple months rent together, and she and her cats can settle into a small and more affordable studio, have a moment to breathe and feel mentally stable again. All of this will be more expensive because she now has an eviction on her credit report.

If you can help Johnnie out with a donation, I would so appreciate it. If nothing else I hope that writing this book will provide some kind of social capital for the people in it. And be a reminder to people who have been invisible and under-represented that their lives are important and meaningful, and people really do care.

Thank you - Kim