Hello friends, my name is Jennifer and I am turning to my community to help support two young siblings, a Campolindo High School student and a Rheem Elementary student, as they have recently and suddenly joined our family in their time of crisis. For their safety, I am keeping their names and faces off of this fundraiser but both schools know of their situation and can verify their attendance and need. For the sake of making this easier to read, I'll refer to them as John and Jane. THE STORY On June 10, 2024 right before midnight, John (one of my son's best friends who lived down our street) came to our home needing help. The family had been evicted from their apartment and were heading to a homeless shelter in the morning. The several days following were full of terribly sad events with his mother of which I’ll keep private, ending with her signing over guardianship of both 11-year-old John and 16-year-old Jane. Shortly thereafter, Jane showed up on our doorstep at midnight on June 13th with nowhere to go, and we have not heard from their mother since the 14th. They have been through a similar loss with their dad years ago, and have no capable family. We are it. Their parents had the best intentions and raised them with good foundations as they are incredible kids, but mental illness is powerful. Their lives are forever changed and it's all just so heartbreaking. ABOUT US My husband is a first responder working 70+ hrs a week. I typically work from home full time but am looking for my next career move in operations as my last contract just ended. Outside of working 40 hrs a week, I care for all 5 of our kids and any spare time is dedicated to getting Jane & John set up with academic, social, health, and therapy services, and just getting to know them and listening to them. Our 3 biological children attend Rheem( 2nd, 3rd, and 4th). Now we add John, a 5th grader and Jane, a high school Junior. We are trying our best to navigate parenthood in a new way and provide as much as possible to these kids while doing everything we can to maintain stability and loving security for all of us. As a family, we’re juggling a lot. This of course wasn't planned financially and can take weeks to months before we receive any government aid. As guardians, we don't get as much support as fostering, but it was the better option for John and Jane's special circumstances, and our family as a whole. THE ASK We are reaching out to you, our Lamorinda community, friends, family, and all the nice people on the internet and asking that we pull together for these kids and our family as we pay for healthcare (therapy has a 4-month waitlist for Medi-Cal), after school activities, clothes & toiletries, tutoring, and making adjustments to our house to accommodate them permanently (as they came with nothing--just a backpack of personal belongings). In addition to the above list, we'd use the funds for extracurricular activities that will help them find themselves and learn valuable life skills. John is a natural athlete, he is interested in participating in team sports. Jane is very eager to learn life skills, by taking driver's ed and cooking classes. NEEDS (both financial and connective) -Therapy sessions are upwards of $200 each, adding a $1600+ bill to our monthly expenses, but they need it so badly. - Daily living needs (food, clothes, toiletries) are met for now, but we need funds to continue to be able to care for them. -Driving lessons for Jane; this can get costly! We try to teach her ourselves, but work commitments & other children make it difficult. -Extracurricular activities- sports (John) and rock climbing for exercise (Jane) - Possibly a car for Jane, she is learning on our ‘07 manual Honda Fit and we’ll likely end up just giving that to her, but please keep us in mind as opportunities arise. -A Pediatrician in the Lamorinda area that takes straight Medi-Cal, not managed. Recommendations would be greatly appreciated. - Start college savings. This is a dream since we aren’t even sure we can pay for 3 college tuitions, let alone 5. Our desire is that these kids will soar, but that requires long-term planning. I know there’s more as it feels like we are bleeding money. But really anything helps us integrate these two kids into all the amazing parts and offerings of our beautiful and supportive Lamorinda community and give them the best chance at succeeding in life and healing in some way from this splintering life event they are going through. We truly are so thankful for all the ways our community has rallied around us, thank you for reading all of this and supporting these beautiful, sweet kids.
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