Hello,
For the past 15 years I have been a caregiver to dying people, most of whom were people that could not move or speak due to ALS. For the last six years, I was unpaid for what I do, namely, keeping the mortally ill out of nursing homes and institutional settings by acting as a guardian and caretaker. Now, I am without means to rebuild and regroup due to death (eight weeks ago).
My situation is bleak. I live in a thirty year-old fifth wheel camper in the middle of no-where. I inherited a dog who will not leave my side and some bills. I have been selling blood plasma for money until recently, but a little old lady, a former neighbor (who is not well) whom I found living in her car and took in to share my poverty, I had discovered lost her license some time back after we were pulled over by the sheriff on our way for me to bleed out for cash; so, getting there and that source of money seems to be off the table for now, as are my trips to food pantries and the store to get potable water. There are some neighbors who do help, but my utter dependency upon them isn't sustainable.
Living in a camper is hard work, harder with winter approaching. I grew up in a city where I never needed or had a driver's license, and I still don't have one. Previously, I got around on an old golf cart; now, I walk with my dog five miles into town and back. The golf cart was broken, but I am fixing it: it still needs headlights, a windshield, and a covering to block the coming wind-chill. My refrigerator recently died, but I have access to another in a barn. Human waste disposal from my black water tank is logistically difficult, but something that needs attending to before the onset of winter. Every day, something new seems to go badly wrong, and my heart breaks anew.
I was orphaned at 16, an only child with no family to speak of on which to rely or fall back on. I have nowhere to go. Every sick and dying person I've "adopted" is gone on to their reward. I have learned how to live minimally in the extreme in order to have done what I've done. I haven't had a day off in nearly six years.
For $5,000, I can restore my supply lines and continue to live this way for several months; for more, I can more quickly get out of this cycle of poverty, uncertainty and terror. I don't get public benefits, and I have only recently become a documented American, not having an ID or bank account for the past several years, living like society's ghost (a difficult problem to hack in itself!), but now I do. I need time to grieve, reassess, and rebuild for the future, something which seems impossible from increasing indebtedness. I have cried to God and His mother for relief and none has come yet; so, I'm turning to you that you might be His agent and the answer to my prayers. If I were a normal person, I'd have cried uncle and gone insane from the pressure, but I don't have that luxury. I have had to swallow my pride to write this because I do prefer to suffer in silence, and I cannot any longer.
There are other problems, but I won't mention them here, not that I've been brief. Thank you in advance for your kind consideration. Your prayers are appreciated! Sharing this will help, too.
-Noah
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