This fundraising effort is for my mother, Donna.
My mom is 51, a parent to two adult children, one high school teenager, a grandparent to my 3 nephews, a sister, a daughter, and a friend—my best friend.
Here’s her story and why I’m seeking your support:
In 2020, she received the devastating news of being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. She immediately started radiation that August which consisted of five straight days of radiation. Following the radiation, she underwent chemotherapy— receiving this treatment every 14 days. By the time she would feel better from the chemo, it would be time for her to take the 1 and 1/2 hour trip back to the city for her next treatment. She repeated this process for approximately 9 months. When chemotherapy concluded, her care team decided to move forward with surgery in a temporary ileostomy. In June of 2021 she was officially cancer-free.
While in remission, she has continued suffering side effects from the chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. These side effects have resulted in her inability to work and need to be on disability.
Unfortunately, we’ve received further devastating news of being notified that there is a reoccurrence and that the cancer is back. She will need to undergo surgery and have reconstruction for a permanent colostomy bag. As you can imagine this is not just a detriment to her physical health, but also her mental health.
As this news is still very recent, we are waiting confirmation of course of treatment which might again include chemotherapy. Irregardless, we know ahead of us there are a lot of adjustments that will need to be made and a lot of trips to the city where her care team is, an hour and a half away. We understand the heavy financial burden that this will weigh in addition to the physical and mental burdens of this diagnosis.
And if that’s not enough for one person to handle, my mom has been displaced with housing for over 2 years. She has been making do the best she can living in a camper at my grandparents (her parents). Her situation is compounded by lack of housing resources, lack of financial resources due to being on disability, as well as being displaced due to domestic violence after a 15-year relationship.
I work in the field of advocacy for domestic violence several states away, and I am a survivor of domestic violence myself. I spend my work weeks advocating for others who are dealing with domestic violence and today I’m here to advocate for my mother, who is not only a survivor domestic violence, experiencing housing instability, but now, the reoccurrence of colorectal cancer. It takes a lot of courage, strength, resilience, and bravery to leave violent situations—whether it’s emotional abuse, physical abuse, or financial abuse. Oftentimes survivors are stuck in a trauma bond which is a chemical reaction to the body, such as any other addiction. She did the right thing by leaving but is still and need of support and community.
The rural area of which she is located in lacks a significant amount of resources that some might find in larger communities. I have been going in circles trying to problem solve—calling places like United Way, housing authority, churches, and other programs that are local or where I’ve had referrals to. We even explored an avenue to have her care team assign her a social worker to assist with her housing and security, however, being that her care team is in a different state, they have limited ability to assist. Relocating to a different area is not necessarily the best option for the next year as we want to keep my brother in the same high school to finish out his senior year.
I’ve been doing everything in my power to try to be there for her, find a path to healing, and stability. Today I’m setting a goal to raise $20,000 to help support long-term housing and any costs associated with her care.
Every donation counts—big or small.
Whether that is 1,000 generous people donating $20 each, 200 people donating $100 each, or 400 people each donating $50…every bit counts. By doing so, we can achieve this goal together, creating not only financial relief and stability, but also emotional support to know that so many out there care enough to support this cause.
Your consideration and generosity is appreciated.
In solidarity,
Brittney Eyman
