Please help a hurting family survive the unknown.

Hey, everyone! I’m Jennifer, a friend of Cindy Wieland’s, and I’m coming to you on her behalf because I believe her story is powerful, and she needs our help.

You might have seen our previous version of this campaign – if not, I left the original story at the bottom for you – but things have changed (for the worse) since we first reached out. On January 31st, Cindy had her final hearing before the school board. She was attempting to appeal their decision to terminate her employment, but they wouldn't budge. There wasn’t even a discussion.

And in one moment, as if it couldn’t get harder, it did.

Whereas she originally could pay to maintain her family’s health insurance at a whopping $600 every two weeks, she no longer has that option and will have to resort to using COBRA while she searches for full-time employment, which will double that monthly outflow for her. She’ll have to pay over $2200 monthly to have COBRA, and she’ll have to get it for at least one month while she searches marketplace options or finds a position with insurance benefits. (If you know a good third-party option or someone hiring, please leave us a note!)

All the funds that she had (savings, retirement, donations, etc.) are nearly gone, and keeping herself and her kids housed, insured, and fed is becoming more and more of a struggle. The good Lord willing, she won’t have to fight so hard to get by for much longer and she’ll find a new position somewhere, but until then, we’re humbly coming to you for help.

If you have anything that you can spare, $5 even, to help get some kind of money coming in, it’d be so very much appreciated. This is a great group of people. Brilliant, talented, and determined, they all know this is temporary because they won’t allow themselves to stay in this space, but they could greatly use a little boost up to help get them over this wall they’ve hit.

Now that she’s officially unemployed and not just suspended without pay, which she’s been since September 6th of last year, she can share a little more of the story with you, which she’s asked me to do.

In her own words:

“Hey, everyone. Here's the TLDR: I was fired for standing up for my transgender son! Now, if you choose to keep reading: in April 2023 I exhausted all of my "proper" chain of command resources and filed a complaint with the US Dept of Education Office of Civil Rights on behalf of my transgender son and other neurodivergent students. Based on this single complaint, they found enough evidence to open FOUR investigations against Arlington Community Schools. Fast-forward to this school year: the investigation is in full swing. I return to school after surgery for a rotator cuff and bicep tear. I was back at work six days under doctor's restrictions and still with my right arm immobilized. I was assigned to cover another teacher's classroom, sat down in her rolling chair which was too tall for me and fell, sustaining a concussion and inflammation of my AC joint. Suddenly, I was brought up on charges of insubordination and a code of ethics violation for allegedly uttering one curse word while I was on the floor crying, asking for help. I was suspended without pay on Sept 6th. After a hearing and subsequent appeal before the school board, I have now been FIRED, after a 26-year teaching career with an excellent record and numerous awards and accolades. This is far from over, but I need your help! Even knowing the retaliation and cost of speaking up, I would do it all again because all of our children MUST be protected equally!”

We know that times are tough for so many, especially considering we’ve just come off the holidays and, in Memphis, a deep freeze that has cost many families hundreds of dollars in utility bills and, for some, repairs to property. Knowing how hard people are fighting their own battles makes this ask much harder and the gratitude much deeper. We’re all truly humbled by the beautiful souls who know that it “takes a village” sometimes. Thank you; thank you; thank you. You’re angels on Earth.

Please consider sharing this campaign on your various social accounts and/or with others who might be able to offer assistance.

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To learn more about Cindy’s story, check out the news reports from local station FOX 13.

Learn more about Max's name-change battle.

Check out the reporting done about Cindy's termination.

Watch Cindy's "thank you" here.

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For the original campaign story from December 2023, please keep reading below.

Hey, everyone! I'm Jennifer, and I work with one of the most amazing humans, Ms. Cynthia Wieland. The last few months have been challenging, traumatizing even, for her and her children, and they're currently looking at a bleak holiday season. I humbly reach out on their behalf in the hopes that holiday cheer isn’t dead.

Earlier this year, Cindy, her son, and her son's friend were working a fireworks stand in one of the hottest summers on record when a series of straight-line winds came through the area and ripped the stand to shreds. Hoping to avoid injury (or worse), Cindy and the children clung to support poles, praying the anchors would hold, as 95-mph winds lifted them off the ground. Eventually, they were lucky to get trapped under collapsed tables, heavy poles, and the massive tent itself, where the kids’ horrified screams gave Cindy the focus she needed to choke back her own fear and fight for their safety.

After the storm passed and they Army-crawled out of their hovel, it was apparent that they didn't come out unscathed. The calm revealed a porta-potty that’d been thrown into her van, smashing the side in. And Cindy, who'd used her body to shield the children, tore her right rotator cuff and bicep doing so, requiring reconstructive surgery and immobilization just in time to start the school year. (She's an extremely hands-on, award-winning theatre teacher who also happens to be right-handed.)

She took it on the chin and got to work, though, excited to start a new year with her students doing what she loves.

But the hits kept coming. One of her "duties as assigned" was to look after another teacher's class while that teacher attended a weekly meeting. As Cindy was monitoring this class one morning, she misjudged her posturing in the teacher's (too-tall-for-Cindy) rolly chair, as she tried to get into it one-armed, her right arm bound to her torso.

It came out from underneath her, sending her crashing to the floor. She smashed her head on the hard tile but not before she bounced it off a few shelves on the way down. As a result of the amazing tumble, Cindy re-injured her right arm and suffered a major concussion, resulting in an OJI that's evolved into a situation that's had her out of work without pay since September 6th.

Instead of being able to retire in a few years after a long, rewarding teaching career, she's had to take nearly $30K from her retirement to pay copays, keep the family insured at $600 every two weeks, pay the mortgage, fix the car, and feed everyone (pets included). And while she’s grateful that she had some resources knowing so many people don’t, she's now running on fumes.

Her right arm has only been cleared for limited use and her concussion symptoms keep flaring up; however, she’s not trying to sit idly by. Despite her injuries, she picked up a part-time gig that does as much as they can to work with her through these setbacks. However, it appears her left arm is going to need surgery soon, too, as using it to compensate for the right has worsened injuries from the storm event that weren’t immediately concerning.

As I put this story together, I feel overwhelmed by the barrage of things our sweet Cindy has been battling for months, years in some cases, and my heart breaks for her. Out of respect for the family’s privacy, I’ve not gotten as specific as I could, but I hope I’m still able to convey the worthiness of this drive. I’ve never seen a person so giving, humble, and kind, who doesn’t ask for anything from anyone, get hit over and over again in such life-altering ways.

All three of Cindy’s children are beautiful humans, too. Her oldest two are trying to establish their own household and find a way to offer her support, while her youngest, still at home, has been working extra shifts to try and cover more of his expenses (even though Cindy would much rather he take a breath, eat, and get some sleep). As members of the LGBTQIA+ community, they’ve lived challenging lives, but the youngest is fighting a years-long battle against deplorable behavior, in some cases from the same people you'd expect to protect him fiercest. To recount those stories would shatter your heart. No one should have to suffer that way, especially a child. But the way they all get back up with grace and tolerance, still determined to leave the world a better place than they found it, speaks to the type of woman Cindy is.

This family is special. Our tough little momma is fighting this battle as a single parent, and she’s crushing it, despite feeling like it’s trying to crush her.

I’d love for us to come together and make sure the heat stays on and maybe raise enough to give her a night without nightmares about how she’s going to keep it all together. Humanity isn’t dead, even in trying times, and I believe we could make this go viral. I know that everyone needs something these days, as we’re all trying to stay afloat, but anything helps.

This family has been living in fight-or-flight mode for months, fighting fights that would break most of us. Please share this drive with others. During this season of giving, it’d be beautiful to see this family, so very tired, lifted up in love and support. I can’t think of a more deserving little bunch of humans.

Thank you. <3

All monies raised go directly to the Wieland family, not the organizer.