I love being a woman

My name is Jo’Lissa (I go by Jo) and I’m a 23 year-old college senior at USC, living in Los Angeles, CA.

As a college student, I was receiving financial aid from the university which provided me with a small stipend at the beginning of each semester to pay for living expenses (I.e. rent). However, if any of you are from the LA area, you know that rent is like paying a double mortgage, especially in a college neighborhood. So, I was working two jobs to be able to afford to even live here and go to school at the same time.

Unfortunately, things went left pretty fast. For starters, I got extremely sick. I have been diagnosed with stage IV endometriosis, which makes even getting out of bed hard if I’m not heavily medicated all the time, which makes working extremely difficult. I’ve had three surgeries, gotten my ovary removed, and went through aggressive treatment. So, I stopped working and tried focusing solely on school with my parents recommendation. A couple months later though, my dad was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and was admitted to the ICU.

When my dad got sick, he had to stop working, which was a huge blow to my family. My mom is doing her best with trying to work and pay double (if not triple the bills), but is struggling because she also can no longer work as many hours because my dad requires virtually 24 hour, round the clock care.

So, what does all of this have to do with school and my stipend? Well, I gave it to my parents because in my opinion, that’s what any good daughter would have done. I wanted to help them pay hospital bills and home bills and I don’t regret my decision to do so. I currently have a job, but cannot possibly work as many hours as I need in order to pay my own bills while also helping my parents out.

In one week, I will be evicted from my home. Two weeks after that, my parents will be evicted. Please keep us in our homes, and help us keep a peace of mind throughout the process of healing.

Please help my friend reach her goal // donate here