This is Corrie & Soleil
Location: Clackamas, OR
"I'm a single mom of a 10 year old girl and it's been just the 2 of us since my daughter Soleil was 10 months old. Child support has been sporadic, and I earn just enough to make ends meet.
This year has been very rocky for my daughter and me.In March, I heard my cat knock something over in the middle of the night. It woke me a bit, but then I fell back to sleep. In the dreamy place between sleep and being awake, I heard someone breathing, and then I cracked my eyes and noticed a wadded up blanket I didn’t recall leaving next to my bed. I reached out to touch it. At that point, I woke all the way up because it wasn’t a blanket, it was a man, crouched next to my bed. My daughter was asleep next to me. I quietly asked him why he was in my bedroom, and all he said was ‘where’s your daughter at?’ She is tiny and likes to sleep with the blankets over her head and I realized he had not seen her. I lied and said she was gone. He told me that some men were looking for her for sex and had been watching us for a while. I stayed calm and spoke to him in a whisper to not wake my daughter. Eventually he left on his own and we were unharmed. My daughter slept through the entire event by the grace of God.I used all the money I had saved to put 3% down on a home loan to move into a new apartment within 2 days of the break in between the cost of movers, deposits etc.Things were going well until late July when I was laid off from the job I’d absolutely loved for the past three years. They were amazing and gave me 3 months to find a job and help train a coworker that would be absorbing some of my role. The next morning, I went to go to work and someone had stolen my car. I kept my game face on, reported it to the police and my insurance and called my boss to come and pick me up for work. As you know, being a single mom means that even when you want to just sit down a cry, you put on your big girl panties and keep on going. Fortunately, I had good insurance and in the grand scheme of things, it ended up being okay. The car was never found and I got a new one.I found a job shortly before the end of my previous job and started working October 15th and I am so grateful to have found a job, however the pay is significantly less, and the commute is over an hour each way. It’s a small company, just myself and realtor and he failed to let his accountant know that I had been hired. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal, but the accountant only works one day a month and we only get paid once a month. Due to the timing, I didn’t get a paycheck for almost 2 months. My daughters birthday also fell within that time. As soon as I did get paid I spent almost all of itineraries rent and trying to catch up, but I am unable to make ends meet. I’m having to decide which bills are critical and which can wait. I’m 2 months behind on my electric bill and every week I go to the grocery store and calculate my way through shopping. My budget for two of us is $30 a week which means we eat a LOT of pasta and rice. I never thought I’d stress about things like buying meat or fresh fruits and vegetables.Last week, after some hard thinking and a lot of tears in my car (I’m sure you know from your time as a single parent, the car and the shower are where you cry) I decided to let my daughter know that there is no Santa, and this year will be different from previous years. She was awesome about it and we had a good, positive talk, but later that evening I found her in her room trying to be strong for me. She was quietly crying in her room because she was sad about Santa not being real. She already had an inkling that Santa wasn’t real, but it was definitely the end to part of her childhood, and she didn’t want me to see her upset.
*************************************************************************It was heartbreaking.All I want is for her to have a happy Christmas. That’s it. I can try to patchwork together basics for day to day life, but I have nothing to spare. This year has been so exhausting, with all the crazy things that have happened and I know we can weather the storm, and hopefully I’ll be back on my feet soon."
Let's help Corrie & Soliel have a great Christmas this year!
WAYS TO HELP:
You can purchase directly from Corrie's Wish List and items will be sent directly to them.
OTHER WAYS TO HELP:
You can send monetary donations HERE.
This will go toward food, groceries, bills, etc.
If you'd like to send a card, gift card, or letter of encouragement, please email me at JBHolidayPIF@gmail.com with the subject line CORRIE1215
Thank you for paying it forward.
