03/23/2026
Our family is trying to get out of debt and move to a new place.
We are about $15,000 in debt trying to stay afloat living in California.
I moved to California to help take care of my mom and grani, we were living in Texas at the time.
My mom needed heart surgery and needed someone to help her take care of her and my grani while she recovered. She has had 2 heart stints put in and an ablation in the time that I have been back here, since 2015. My mom isn't the best person, but we do what we can for our family and I am her Power of Attorney.
My grani had a heart attack in 2020 which caused her to have rapidly growing Dementia which took her life back in April 2025 and she was the main reason I decided to even come back here. Now that she is gone, our family is ready to move. My grani was my world and one of my favorite people in the whole world, she was the backbone of our family. Her love was silent, but strong and felt across my little family, it has broken all of us.
We have been trying to save money since I have started working after I had surgery on my gallbladder in July 2024, but the government shutdown impacted our family tremendously, being a Section 8 recipient and a household that has Food Stamps and Medical, our savings went away very quickly. Living in California, $5000 doesn't go very far. It has come to a point that living in California is not a good fit for us anymore and we are trying to relocate to the Midwest/East Coast.
None of the other members of our household can find a job; me and my DIL are the only ones able to find work. We have a household of 5 and with a soon-to-be new addition.
We are looking for affordable housing and someplace that has reliable job placement. We want to get off government assistance and be a financially stable and independent household, something we have been striving for, for a very long time.
Here is a little bit of our backstory:
Eva (me): It is getting harder and harder for me to work, I need to have knee surgery like yesterday on both my knees. One needs a replacement, the other needs a repair. I currently work in Assisted Living as Front Desk Concierge making $20 an hour and can barely cover all our expenses.
John (my husband) is early stages Parkinson's and no one will help him medically so he can get on disability, they keep saying it's his mental health affecting him. But he has body tremors, which they classified as Essential Tremors and Resting Tremors, which he inherited from his mom.
Brandon (my oldest) who is 25 is an Adult Autistic, was diagnosed at the age of 3 and has struggled as an adult to try and find work. We have tried ALL of the supportive places and no one will call him back or help him. He is a High School and College Graduate who received his Associates Degree in English in 2024. No one will hire him and the resources here are no help.
Lorien (my DIL because they have been together for 10 years) is also Autistic and working in a thrift store making $17 an hour and can barely survive. She is currently living with us and 7 weeks pregnant. She pays me rent every month of $600 because that is all she can afford.
Devan (my youngest, who is 21) is a Covid graduate from High School. He has NO work experience because he couldn't even do his Work Study while in High School due to Covid, which has impacted him being able to find a job. He has applied for literally EVERYTHING he can find that is entry-level and no one will hire him or they overlook him and hire family.
We will relocate in an instant if we had the money and the opportunity to work or establish work very quickly. We just need to get our debt down and the funds for the move.
What the funds will be used for:
* Credit Card debt payoff: $15,000
Rent, deposit, applications fees and utilities until we can find work and get established (a couple months of rent)
Moving expenses: Rent a Moving Pod (that will be shipped to new destination) and the gas to drive to our new destination.
Our family is trying to get out of debt and move out of California over to … Eva Shipp needs your support for Help the Shipp Family Relocate for a Fresh Start
