You can save my friends from becoming homeless.

Read this first. Then, let's get into the situation itself:

Hello! I'm Xander, and I'm trying to give 2 friends of mine a home. Before a home, let's settle on a place to stay. Right now, R has an affordable housing voucher! (A "Non-Elderly Disabled Voucher") Unfortunately, it will go into affect in (something like) 4 months.

For the longest time, everything was in crisis. Now, thanks to your endless generosity, we've got my 2 friends housed (in temporary housing, a long-term stay hotel) for a month. Thank you for all your help! You have all truly been a blessing. By giving this money, you have given my friends the ability to live.

Until their housing voucher can go into effect, we have to raise funds to keep them housed. For another month's stay in this long-term hotel, we need $2572. If I want my friends to be housed through Christmas, if I want my friends to survive until they get real housing, I need to raise money for (at least) another few months of their rent.

The situation:

My friends, R and J, are undergoing a crisis.

First, R and J have both been targeted by a stalker in the past. This horribly abusive man won't leave them alone, because he's (regrettably) family--R's ex-husband and J's father. In fact, he's a large part of why R and J are in this dire situation. For my friends' safety, I'm not using their pictures in this plea for help, and I will refer to them only with their initials.

On my long commute home from work, J walked into my life by chance. They were bold, approaching me--a stranger!--just because they wanted to know me. (J is the most free-spirited person I've ever met.) After that random conversation, we quickly became friends. At the time, they were new to the city and in desperate need of friends, but that's not why I gave them my number. It's impossible to not love J.

Then, a few months into our friendship, J told me, "My mother and I are about to be homeless." More specifically, they were going to be homeless very, very soon. Not on my watch. Then, I began my very determined and very panicked campaign to find these 2 a safe home. (You'd think their family, friends, and church would put in the same effort, right?)

After that, I was blessed to meet J's mother, R. R reminds me so deeply of my own mother, and I'm so happy she's in my life. She is also extremely disabled, requiring a wheelchair, frequently fainting due to her POTS. In fact, shelters have refused to house her before due to her disability! She has an IV drip, which she connects to a port in her chest. Apparently, for most shelters, this is a dealbreaking liability. (Is the street supposed to be safer?)

Here's why J suddenly uprooted their life, moving across the country to my city: To get away from their horrifically abusive father. Though J is a young adult, that man has held an inescapable and obsessive control over their life. They've spent years couch-surfing with friends, just to avoid his abuse.

So, they left to join their mother--R--in my city. R would normally have a stable and healthy home for J, and J would provide love and care for her in the process. Unfortunately, J moved here at the worst possible time, exactly when R was losing her house, for the first time in her life.

When I reached them, they were about to be evicted with nowhere to go. The area shelters wouldn't take them due to their medical needs, and I live in a studio apartment (with a partner). I panicked. I began calling every safe shelter, calling every friend who may have a space room. Then, a miracle. A friend of mine, D, had a room to spare. Though, he was clear that this room was only temporary.

D and myself moved my friends out of their apartment, just before they were kicked out. For over a month, D housed them. (D did something incredible, housing two people he didn't know at all!) We helped them find social workers, benefits, affordable and permanent housing. Things were looking up, until they weren't.

Suddenly, D's apartment complex changed the rules on him, and R and J had to be kicked out once more. The short term solution was a motel, which D (incredibly) paid for out of pocket. Neither D and I are wealthy myself; far from it. In fact, this $2050 stay drained D's savings. After we earn money for R and J's safe housing, I dream of paying D back for his deep charity.

Once again, I was in a panic. We contacted social workers, family and friends, and all agree that a hotel was the best short term solution until this affordable housing voucher goes into affect. R had found a long-term hotel, but a month's stay there was so far out of reach. Until I made this gofund me, until I passed it around my church, it seemed hopeless. But, you and your donations saved their lives.

Your immense generosity gave them a place to live for a month, this long-term hotel stay! Still, I have to find a way to sustain this safe housing, until that permanent housing voucher can save them. Therefore, I have to ask for the next month's rent too. To keep them housed for another month, a good $2572.

There is hope, there is a future! I can't give up now, and I know the world's generosity won't run out when we're so close to safety.

Thank you for all the ways you've blessed us,

And please help my friends stay safely housed,

Xander

(Image used: "Dorothy Day and The Holy Family of the Streets" by iconographer Kelly Latimore.)

Peace be with you,

Xander