Help Me Give My Family a Chance to Catch Up

My name is John. I’m 29 years old, a father of two young children, and I’m trying to get my family back onto stable ground.

The truth is, I feel like I started adult life already behind.

I was born to older parents, and by the time I was old enough to start working, they were already at the point where they could no longer work and provide the way they once did. Growing up, my father sometimes had to ask other people for help just to make sure I had what I needed.

At 17, I got my first job and started helping with bills and responsibilities at home. When I was 21, my father passed away. At the time, I was the one in the family who had the financial means to handle most of his burial expenses, so that responsibility fell largely on me.

Not long after that, I became a father myself.

Since then, it has felt like I have always been trying to catch up.

Over the years I have tried different ways to improve our situation. I have taken loans to try to start businesses and create additional income, but the problem has always been the same: whatever money the business made was usually needed immediately for household expenses, family responsibilities, food, utilities or something unexpected. The businesses never really had the chance to grow because the money had to come back out almost as quickly as it went in.

Unfortunately, I was still left with the loans afterward.

I am trying again now.

I recently started my own IT business here in Antigua. IT is something I have worked in for years, and I genuinely believe I can build something sustainable with it. I do repairs, installations, networking and other technical work, and being mobile is important because I have to travel to customers and move equipment.

But right now, most of what I earn is still going straight into keeping my family afloat. We are behind on loans, utilities and other household expenses, and it has become extremely difficult to make progress.

On top of everything else, my mother is currently in St. Vincent and is very ill in hospital. She is barely eating, and my family is preparing ourselves for the possibility that she may not have much time left. Having already carried much of the responsibility when my father passed away, I know there is a real possibility that I may be called upon again if the worst happens.

I’m not asking for a new car, a house, luxury items or for strangers to solve my entire life.

I’m simply asking for some breathing room.

My goal is to catch up on overdue bills and debts, stabilize my household, be prepared to help my family with my mother’s situation, and give my IT business enough room to actually grow instead of constantly taking money out of it just to survive.

There have been moments where the pressure has gotten so heavy that I have caught myself thinking in ways I know are not the person I want to be. But I have a son and a beautiful little daughter who depend on me, and they are the reason I keep trying to find a better way forward.

I do not want to publish exact loan balances or private financial documents publicly, but if verification is ever required, I am willing to provide appropriate proof privately.

If you are able to contribute, I would be extremely grateful. If you cannot, even sharing this fundraiser may put it in front of someone who can help.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.