Families for Tami

Tami has been our Preschool teacher at Portland Circle of Friends and Family Preschool for more than 20 years. She has touched the lives of hundreds of families over the years, right here in Lents. 

When we closed the school temporarily in March due to Covid-19, we furloughed Tami to allow us to bring her back when it was safe to re-open the school. We had hopes of re-opening months ago. Alas, we are all in this COVID-19 ocean of uncertainty for at least another six months.

Until recently Tami’s husband’s income supported their living expenses covering rent and bills. By early November, Randy, Tami’s husband experienced a rapid decline in health. Randy was in and out of the VA until he passed away before Thanksgiving.

With his passing, his VA benefits and social security were no longer available to her. She is too young to qualify for survivor benefits, and the Department of Veterans Affairs has determined his cause of death unrelated to his service, leaving her ineligible for even a portion of that benefit. Tami also cares for a dependent child. A relative placed in her home long term. 

To make matters more difficult, her unemployment expires at the end of December and her landlord increased her rent without notice, something we are hoping to help resolve. 

Our hope to to raise enough to give Tami a best egg to get through the winter, and hopefully spring. 

While the goal is $12,000 - our hope is to raise more. However, this will cover rent for 8 months. 

We hope to be able to bring Tami back to start the re-opening in 10 months and hope to continue to work on securing some of the benefits of her late husband, Randy.

Please help us come together to support a member of our community who has suffered so much in such a short time. 

Every gift will be given directly to Tami to sustain her through these uncertain times and provide us the time to cover the necessities over the coming months while we work on longer term solutions, and allow her this winter to heal.