After losing her home 10 years ago, life has been one struggle after another for this single mom of three. “Diana” is working to improve her family’s situation — but after so many setbacks, she needs help to get ahead.

“We’ve been homeless a lot,” Diana said.

The family of four lives in a camper that recently flooded, damaging the floors. The space is cramped and no one has any privacy.

“It’s not very pleasant at all,” Diana said. “I feel guilty because I think my kids should be in a house. But it’s just not feasible.”

Diana works full-time as a chef. Her twin sons, “Alex” and “Andrew,” are high school students and have part-time jobs at the same restaurant where their mom works. The boys freely give some of what they earn to their mom to help with the family’s expenses.

All three walk to work because the family’s only transport, a 1992 Subaru, has developed a leak in the radiator that makes it risky to drive. Diana can’t afford to repair the car.

“It’s on its last leg,” she said.

Three kids produce a lot of laundry. It costs about $5 to wash and dry a single load. The expense is such a strain on the family’s limited resources that the children sometimes have to wear dirty clothes to school, which leads to bullying from their peers.

“It’s a battle,” Diana said. “I can’t keep up on the laundry.”

In school, the kids are at a disadvantage: They don’t have access to a computer at home, which makes it hard to complete many assignments outside class. Chromebooks, which cost significantly less than laptops, would allow the three students to do their homework in a timely manner and improve their performance in school.

The kids no longer ask to participate in extracurricular activities, because they know the family can’t afford it and they don’t want to put their mom in the position of having to tell them no.

“They’ve got big hearts,” Diana said. “They’re very kind and giving. They would do just about anything for anybody.”

Given the opportunity, the kids know what hobbies they’d like to pursue. Alex loves being outdoors and dreams of having a BMX bike to ride on local trails and to work. Andrew would love to learn to play guitar. The youngest child, Marie, is artistic and would like to take classes to develop her skills in cooking, woodworking or similar areas.

No matter how challenging life becomes, Diana said, her children motivate her to keep moving forward.

“I look at my kids and try to do the best I can,” Diana said. “There’s a light on the other side.”