Greetings, I am writing this letter on behalf of my son, Forrest Darden. He came to Miami 2 years ago to go to Miami International University of Art and Design, a very expensive school. Without knowing Miami or the school he found the living quarter’s inhabitable and moved out with a friend to their own apartment. The school told me they have work study, they do not. They said they had tutoring services, they do not.  He is now in crisis, the roommate moved out, he’s about to be evicted, he has no job, income, been living without electricity about weeks and the car he had is now in a tow lot. I and my mother have helped him as much as we could financially, but now our funds are exhausted. I have been laid off since November 2008; my mother is on fixed income and at present recuperating from leg surgery here in Kansas City. I applied online for food stamps and emergency cash assistance for him.  He said he was given the emergency assistance as a onetime thing, which leaves him for rent in October. He told me he has found a cheaper place, but we do not have monies for deposit or rent. I think he could and needs to find one more reasonable than $600. If you know of anyone who would rent him just a room in their home or has an apartment complex this would help, as well.  He needs help he is sinking in depression and is literally waiting each day for a knock on the door to remove him from his apartment. His friend emailed me saying he has been saying how life is not worth living and he has no decent clothes or shoes to wear. He does not want to come home; he sees this as failure I believe. I have begged him to come home and find another school.  He was not able to re-enroll in school this semester. I do not have an A+ credit rating to take out a loan that big each semester. I am contacting you as the Holy Spirit told me to find churches with outreach ministries. When I typed in “churches with outreach ministries in Miami Beach” your place of worship was among those on the list. Anything you all can do to help Forrest I would appreciate, he is a good kid, no drugs or alcohol. I tried to bring him up with Jesus and made sure he got baptized before he left home to go into the world. He is a very good musician, played in school productions and concerts, if you all have a music ministry maybe he could work for you all. He needs help with job search assistance. He has told me he cannot find good work because he is not bi-lingual or the agencies he knows of in his area only work with immigrants. I surely do not know, I know I have helped him with a resume and job search engines on the internet. We have no family to network with for help. I have no siblings, my cousins and aunts and uncles are in their 70’s or very young trying to make it themselves, his biological father hasn’t seen him since he was 9 months old, owes me over $43,000 in support and Kansas quit trying to collect when he turned 18, even with him being in college. Anything your place of worship can do to help him I would greatly appreciate. I have asked the church we are members of for help, but they are unable to at this time He has some phone he purchased from Target that is cordless but cannot have a voicemail feature. Please call Forrest, or go see him he needs someone to pray with as well. It is hard to keep the faith and not fret when you have no way to keep your basic necessities. Thank You and God Bless.

 Forrest S. Darden III 2905 Sheridan Ave. Apt #1 Miami Beach, FL 33140 (305)-672-8753