It is impossible to believe that life circumstances can put you in dire financial straits so late in life. But with 3 key people from a business, I once owned dying, income I was relying on disappeared. Then COVID hit with its financial side effects, followed by crushing inflation, all of which has led to our being upside down financially!
As I write this, I feel that I am betraying the commitment I made to myself 60 years ago that regardless of my visual handicap I would earn my way through life without relying on public assistance or charity. The State Handicap Assistance Office where I lived tested me and gave me a grant to go to college. That was the last charitable help I received or asked for until now. Now, my family and I really need serious financial help so we can live out the days we have left, in peace, free from this overwhelming financial burden, which is not of our creation. I have provided an explanation of our circumstances below.
I am 80 years old and severely visually impaired (blind in one eye, with limited vision in the other eye complicated by a macular scar). I am married to a wonderful wife. My only present source of income is Social Security. There are some jobs I can manage and am qualified for, but I do not have a license (for obvious reasons), there is limited public transportation, my wife drives but we don’t own a car, and there is NO taxi service where we live in Southern West Virginia, so, I cannot get to a job. I am more than willing to work! Since I can’t, I decided to pursue online affiliate marketing to try and earn some money, I have a website, am creating content, both written and video, and I am preparing to launch the marketing effort, which takes time to get established and begin generating an income. I am estimating it will take about 6 months to generate some meaningful, consistent, and reliable income. It could be quicker, but I have no available financial resources to put towards promotion, advertising, needed software, virtual assistant services (for technical expertise, right now I must learn all types of things that are new tricks to this old dog, which eats up time) Medically, I have some issues that I cannot seek care for as “they are not in the budget”. The same goes for dental care.
My wonderful wife is 75. She suffers from severe anxiety and panic attacks, which can disrupt her daily activities and ability to function normally. Her only present source of income is Social Security. She purchased the house in which we now live in December of 2018 through a guaranteed mortgage program with The USDA. We have a mortgage and related housing expenses. The house has some repair issues that need to be taken care of, but there are no available funds for that purpose at present. Also, when the house was purchased, it came with an easement that gave us access to the driveway plus. When our closing attorney did the property search, he missed that the easement was released in 1972 and that someone else owned that property including our driveway and our screened porch. That attorney died and there is no recourse to him. The easement property is owned by the state due to the failure of the present owner to pay taxes. It can be redeemed, but if we paid the back taxes, we still would not own the property. We would need a title transfer from the present owner assuming she cooperates. The funds to pay the costs involved in solving this problem are not available. We can’t sell or refinance our home to solve our financial issues due to title issues and home repairs that would be required. All this financial stress seriously affects my wife with her anxiety. She has developed depression issues and has frequent anxiety attacks. Medically, she has issues (the depression +) that she cannot seek care for as “they are not in the budget”. The same goes for her dental care.
My stepson is living with us. He is 55, and a Type 1 Brittle Diabetic. He is on a fixed income SS disability benefit because of this medical condition. His medical costs are high, as he is hospitalized from time to time with DKA and sometimes needs emergency medical treatment for extremely low blood sugar. In either case we must call 911 and incur the expense of an ambulance. A low blood sugar incident can usually be handled by the ambulance paramedic or at the emergency room. With DKA he is always admitted to an ICU and sometimes incubated. He is very seriously ill and requires monitoring. The other morning my wife heard his Dexcom alarm going off and his sugar was crashing. He did not wake up when the alarm sounded. If we were not aware of his situation and were not able to treat his dangerously low blood sugar quickly, he could have died. All the equipment needed to provide insulin automatically (his pump) and the blood sugar monitor (Dexcom unit and cell phone) and related supplies and insulin requires ongoing monthly costs not completely covered by insurance. Not to mention ambulance and hospitalization costs not covered by insurance. He also needs dental care, which we cannot afford.
We also have an 11-year-old dog that is very precious to us and suffers from Diabetes and accompanying blindness. To treat her properly requires insulin, and a special diet to maintain her health. This has added heavy additional costs each month beyond those for a normal healthy dog. She is doing well with the current care we are providing and hopefully will be with us for several more years.
To continue to pay our bills and meet the challenges of daily life, like many Americans, we have turned to credit card debt. This has gotten to the point where all our payments combined are more than we will be able to pay. Prices keep going up and we have no way out. The Fed indicates they are going to increase interest rates, which will push our credit card interest rate up again. Soon, all our credit card debt and mortgage will be in default, and we are afraid we will be homeless without hope.
Our goal with this request is to: eliminate the credit card debt; get our home repairs done; gain ownership and clear title to the “easement” property; and accelerate my online business efforts so it will generate the minimum $1,000 per month we need very quickly. If we can get this help, we should be able to manage our finances successfully on an ongoing basis.
The amount we are requesting is $88,110.00 and will allow us to get back on our feet and give us the opportunity to pursue the additional monthly income we need. This amount includes the income taxes we will have to pay on the donations we receive. We hope and pray that you can see your way clear to help us! We have no place else to turn.
We are grateful for your reading this request and wish you great blessings in your life. Should you donate, we cannot begin to thank you enough!
https://paypal.me/SCK444?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US