The email from the donor had burned in my mind all night.
I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the subject line again — “Termination of Funding Agreement.”
By morning, my throat was raw from holding back tears.
The city outside my apartment was just waking up, traffic hums, early sunlight slipping between buildings, but inside, everything felt gray and heavy.
I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at my phone screen one more time, hoping maybe I’d misread it.
I hadn’t.
“Due to recent concerns regarding leadership integrity and financial accountability…” The words cut deep. My nonprofit wasn’t just a job.
It was my heartbeat, something I built out of grief and hope after losing Mom.
Now it was being pulled apart, piece by piece, by something I couldn’t even explain.
