To All of You Amazing, Kind people,
I hope this message finds you well and blessed. I want to let you know that this is quite a long letter and I apologize up front but I thought it best to explain my situation in full.
Hello, My name is Jerome and I live in the Los Angeles County of Southern California. I am writing to you today in order to help you understand the situation in my life as it is now. I will try to explain it in detail breaking it down into separate categories so you can better understand the necessity of this letter, how my life has completely changed over the last 3 years, and the help I currently need. But let me begin by saying Thank You in advance for listening, and reading my letter.
My Life 12 years ago…
I am an educated man with over 30 years of Graphic Design experience (I have references if needed). I was a successful T-shirt artist, Ads creator, CNC programmer, and toy creator. I have worked for many successful companies in my history including the Los Angeles Times, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Anatex Enterprises, etc. I have always been a hard worker and started my first job at the age of 7 years old with a paper route where you still used your bike to deliver the daily newspaper.
What I’m Currently Involved in…
I am 57 now and am currently in college once again to improve my needed knowledge of certain programs in order to secure a “Remote Job (Work from Home)” or start an “Online Business” in the near future. I am enrolled in courses at World Education, LLC via California State University San Marcos. I am taking 5 different courses online which include:
1. Adobe Creative Cloud
2. Certificate in Digital Marketing
3. Certificate in Business Communication
4. Social Media Professional
5. Designing and Delivering Online Courses
At the age of 57, I still believe that “Learning something new every day and Retraining myself” along with keeping a “Positive Mindset” – “Ambition and Determination to never give up” – “Love and Kindness in my Heart” and “Hope and Happiness” in my life are the “Key to a Successful Future”. But as we all know, life continues to happen, and “Murphy’s Law” is inevitable. Thus, my sincere request for help here today. I am also an unpaid Caregiver for my 75-year-old Mother.
A Little over 12 years ago…
The Graphic Design Job Market became saturated because of the little “Trade School Courses” that anyone could take. So I decided to try a different venture in my life and become an Educator Abroad. I got a job at a School in Zamora Michoacan Mexico named Culturlingua teaching English as a Second Language.. I was there for a little over 4 years but things didn’t work out the way I thought they would and decided I wasn’t happy there. So I returned to the United States to continue my Graphic Design career. But on returning I found out that I needed to learn several new “Applications” and practices in order to obtain a job. One of the Applications was “Adobe Indesign” which I had never heard of until My Online Job search began and found I really needed to educate myself in the design and creation of “Web type Graphics” and “Web Design”. But I needed a job to sustain myself as well. I began working for several “Temporary Agencies” and found that the demand for “Overtime” with these companies was a “Requirement” not a “Voluntary” situation. So I was unable to find the time to begin a learning course in the programs I needed to learn.
A Little over 4 years ago…
A Little over 4 years ago I began working for a makeup Company. The hours were normal for the first few months and because I was a hard worker they asked if I would be able to work some overtime hours. Being a “Temporary Agency Worker” I of course replied “Yes” and so it began. 60 plus weekly hours generally going from 12 to 14 hour days Monday through Friday and 4 to 8 hours on Saturday only having Sundays off. Prior to this job I had become engaged to a Wonderful Woman from Norway and yes, we did meet online but fell In Love so I am grateful for that.
February of 2020…
The Covid19 pandemic hit the world and things began to spiral downhill. Our company wasn’t allowed to have as many workers as we had due to the (6-foot apart) rule to prevent the spread of the disease. So the company I worked for let go of the entire night shift and split the day shift up into 2 skeleton crews. I was placed on the “Night Shift” because no one wanted to volunteer to switch to the night shift position. Then OSHA came in and saw we had overlapping hours of work in the two crews and made the company cut hours and people from the night crew in order to abide by the 6 feet apart rules. So we became a “Skeleton Crew” of a “Skeleton Crew” but, they still required us to meet the same amount of production as the day crew with a quarter of the staff from the day crew working 2 to 4 fewer hours each day than the day crew. This all began at the end of March 2020.
The Injury in August 2020…
On the evening shift of August 13th, 2020, I injured my left shoulder moving a barrel by myself that weighed 200 kilos. While I was moving the barrel off of a pallet onto the floor, it got hooked up on a nail and began to fall over. I caught the barrel before it hit the ground and lifted it back up to a standing position. In the process, I tore two tendons in my left shoulder which resulted in permanent injuries today (I have paperwork from My Doctor and the QME (State Doctor) as evidence of this). The “Temporary Agency” I worked for at the time of my injury sent me to Therapy but refused to pay me “Workman’s Compensation” while I was off work so 4 months later in December 2020 I decided to sue them. For two years I had little to no income. At the time of my injury, I was living (and am still living) with my mom in a small room in her house. I also have become a caregiver (with no pay) for my mom as she now has Alzheimer’s, and is a diabetic with high blood pressure. I now do all her shopping, cooking, and managing the bills for the household.
Over the last year, I had to save our house from going into foreclosure and obtain a program (through the State of California) to help us pay overdue bills. They also helped us get a new Central Air and Heating system put into the house because our units stopped working the year before. We also got new Eco-Friendly low-wattage light bulbs, a new stove and oven (Which also had not worked for over a year), a new washer and dryer, and nearly $3,000 dollars of past due bills paid.
My Brother had made an agreement with our sister to take over our Mom’s finances in March of 2021. By July of 2022, she had apparently stolen nearly $30,000 from our Mom’s SSI. She only paid half of Our Mom’s Mortgage, not a penny to the Electric or Gas bill, and kept any money after the partial money to the bills she did pay resulting in a Potential Foreclosure being sent out from the mortgage company to our home in a legal document. Shut-off notices from the Water Company, Electric Company, and Gas Company began to come, and our internet and cable services were shut down several times due to “Non-Payment”. I and My Brother took over our Mom’s finances at the end of July 2022 and stopped it all from going really bad for everyone living in the house.
My Life Today…
I was told (In a Report I have) by both My Doctor and the QME (State Doctor) that my injuries were permanent and surgery wouldn’t repair the injury. I applied for SDI (State Disability Insurance) and SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) but in the end, was denied services. I am limited in many work positions as I am unable to lift more than 10 pounds at a time, Can not lift these 10 pounds higher than shoulder height, and can not perform any duty with this amount of weight for more than 2 to 3 hours a day or it could result in losing the ability to use my left arm permanently. I also have tendinitis in my left shoulder, Chronic Arthritis in several bones, and Carpel tunnel in both my wrists. I have MRI scans and paperwork for all of these diagnoses. So applying for jobs is extremely difficult now. I don’t want to lie about the injuries I have or the fact that I sued the company. But I don’t want to hold back information as it may result in termination from the job or an injury that would potentially cripple me for life, and as I mentioned above, I am an unpaid caregiver for my Mom.
I won my lawsuit but because I had little to no income for the better part of two and a half years. I owed a lot of money in back rent, money I had borrowed, and unpaid bills. The settlement wasn’t that much anyway. The only good thing to come from the Lawsuit was my College courses were paid for, I got a new computer system and laptop to study on, and I was able to purchase the books and software I needed for my classes.
Another Dilemma I have…
I don’t have a “Driver’s License” or a “Vehicle” at the moment, and my Mom really shouldn’t be driving, but Let me explain briefly. I have a son in the United States. I found out I had a son when he was 13 years of age. The mother of my son said I wasn’t the father but that she knew who was. She filed two separate Child Support cases against two other men before filing against me. By the time she filed against me, she had moved from San Bernardino California to Arizona which ended up in the Los Angeles County system several years later. By the time Los Angeles found me and began sending me letters, she had moved back to San Bernardino California, and filed a new case against me resulting in 2 different cases against me for the same child. The other two gentlemen took their DNA test and were found negative for being the father. In 2007, I took my DNA test and found out he was my son. In November of 2007, I went to meet my son for the first time on Thanksgiving day. Being allowed to see my son and visit his home on Thanksgiving day must have really upset my son’s, Mom’s new boyfriend After that, I wasn’t allowed to see him anymore unless I paid a very large sum of money negotiated by my bad lawyer without my permission. Yes, I hired a really bad lawyer who screwed up my case. I now owe over $73,000 dollars to child support. I paid each month for several years but it never really came down because of the (MPR Monthly Percentage Rate) (Not APR Annual Percentage Rate) California puts on your money owed. I was ordered to pay $400 a month. But when I would pay $400 a month, not even half goes to the “Principle” of the money owed so the debt will never be paid off in my lifetime at this rate. Extremely frustrating at best. Even during the months I was paying, Child Support kept suspending my Drivers License telling me “Oops, we’re sorry. It was our mistake”. So I have no License and haven’t really had one for over 10 years now.
What I am asking for to help me find some sort of Normalcy and Sanity in my life…
I truly need around $90,000 dollars US in order to gain some relief and stress from my life. I know that my Child Support issue is my own and shouldn’t concern you but because of it, I am a “Prisoner of the USA” not being able to get a Driver’s License to drive to a job or a job interview or get a Passport for travel to visit my fiance’s family. It has also destroyed my Credit so I can’t even get a loan to pay it off. I would love to be able to drive again when My Fiance Vanja and son David visit. I would also love to travel to Norway to visit her and their family as well. Both require a complete payoff of the Child Support. I would also love to be able to work from home or start an online business due to the fact that finding a job with my injury situation is very difficult. So what I would truly love help with is this:
1. $73,000 to get rid of my debt with child support.
2. $4,000 to pay off overdue bills I have sustained over the last 3 years
3. $5,000 to $7,000 for a good used vehicle and one year of insurance
4. $3,000 to start an online home business (Includes software, Monthly store fees, etc.)
5. $3,000 to travel to Norway once or twice within the next year to meet my Fiances Mom and Family
I appreciate your reading of my story. My life was good at one time but is now a mess at best. Any help I get would be so much appreciated and I would be eternally in your debt and grateful. I know this is a place to ask for help but I also want to say this, I am willing to work for someone, anyone in order to gain an income as I am completely unemployed at this moment. I do have many skills and I am enrolled in college again to improve myself and would be willing to use the skills I have to help you with things you may need in your life or business as well. Once again, Thank you for any help you may give, and have a blessed life.
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/JeromeRubio