Need:
$3100 for 4 months of rent. Possible additional medical expenses and bills.
Circumstances:
You probably know Bru M. from her job as the service lead at the H-E-B Wimberley checkout. But you’d never know how much pain she’s in because she works hard to make sure her customers have a pleasant experience at check out and don’t have to wait in long lines.
Bru’s journey to Wimberley started seven years ago when her life went in a direction she didn’t expect. She grew up in a small town in the Sierra Nevadas, married and moved to the San Bernardino Valley. She had three children and started a tree company with her husband. Bru says that California wasn’t small business friendly, and they were financially struggling when they decided to relocate their business to Texas. Her sister mentioned a small town called Wimberley, and it sounded nice to them. On their visit, Bru stopped in at the Dripping Springs H-E-B, looked around and thought this is a place I can work until we start our tree business. It was only a part-time job but then she saw the hiring sign in the window at the Home Depot. She got both jobs and felt the move to Texas was meant to be. A few weeks before leaving, her husband suddenly decided he didn’t want to leave California or stay married, and so after 32 years, he asked Bru for a divorce. Still, her son helped her load up the Jeep and waved goodbye as she took to the road headed for Texas. Bru cried the whole trip; she said she was leaving everything—leaving her children, her small town and friends—for a new life and a job. “I had a job, that’s what was important. We’d just declared bankruptcy.” Three months after moving to Wimberley and working in Dripping Springs, Bru was hired to help open the Wimberley H-E-B.
Since life rarely keeps things easy for too long, Bru is now going through a health crisis that’s affected her income. Four months ago she woke up with pain and numbness in her left arm. Everyday it gets worse and now the pain and numbness that shot down her back radiated to her legs. She has a hard time walking and isn’t able to work. Doctors believe she’ll have a full recovery and that her problems have to do with a shifted titanium plate that was put in her spine 27 years before after a car accident. Her last day at work was Sunday, August 1st. She may need one, or possibly two surgeries before she can return. Her concern is keeping her house. She loves it there; it’s small and perfect for her, and a good price — rent is $775 a month, including all utilities. She’s trying to keep herself afloat, Bru started to cry and apologized, “I’m sorry, I told myself I wasn’t going to cry. I love H-E-B, and my H-E-B family. I love my Wimberley family. I already miss it there so much. Being there, it’s who I am.” She said she knew she’d be making medical payments for the rest of her life, but can’t lose her house. Her kids are helping where they can. They have young families and are trying to get on their feet, too. One son is in law enforcement and fell through a roof chasing a criminal, breaking his back. He now has huge medical expenses of his own. Jill, who is her colleague at H-E-B, told us “Bru’s in dire straits. We’re all very concerned about her. She is liked so much at work, and we want to help her.”
Let’s help Bru pay her rent of $3100 for 4 months of rent. We will keep the goal open in case the community wants to help her pay some of the medical expenses and bills. So far Bru owes $4000 over the last four months that she is paying off at $25/month. The doctors believe she’ll be back at work in 4 months.
Thank you:
Thank you to all Bru’s friends, family and the Wimberley community! Bru can rest easier now after her surgery without the stress and worry of losing her home.
