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Begging For Help
9 years ago
General
Avast ye, land lubbers!
It's been a long time since I've been on here... at least in any meaningful way. I can't really even claim to be an artist anymore.
So nearly two years ago, my wife was working as an engineer at Apple. And... some pointless bad things happened for no particular reason, that resulted in her being arrested, abused, all charges being dropped, and then being fired from Apple anyway. The experience was traumatic and she went on disability, which let us barely scrape by as long as I dedicated all of my time to managing our lives and taking care of everyone in the family. So... no time for fun, like doing furry art.
Well, the disability ran out and my wife is struggling to find a job. And it's actually going well! Unfortunately, it's not going faster than the eviction we've been trying to beat out. And now, we have 11 days to be out with no where to go and no money for a new place, or any friends willing to put us up out here (California, Bay Area). Our last ditch effort to keep our home was to sell our car, which should be great since it's one of the VW Diesels that got the company in trouble. Good news is, you get a huge bonus on the value of the car if you sell it back to them. Bad news is, the court doesn't actually approve the deal until mid October, at which point we'll be extra homeless.
I know at this point everyone's definitely forgotten all about me. Hell, I don't think I was all that notable before hand. Ostensibly I'm begging for help, but I don't honestly expect any.
Sorry, I'm pretty down.
We put together a Gofundme to try and get help. It didn't go far, but if anyone is willing:
https://www.gofundme.com/229gp7dw
So nearly two years ago, my wife was working as an engineer at Apple. And... some pointless bad things happened for no particular reason, that resulted in her being arrested, abused, all charges being dropped, and then being fired from Apple anyway. The experience was traumatic and she went on disability, which let us barely scrape by as long as I dedicated all of my time to managing our lives and taking care of everyone in the family. So... no time for fun, like doing furry art.
Well, the disability ran out and my wife is struggling to find a job. And it's actually going well! Unfortunately, it's not going faster than the eviction we've been trying to beat out. And now, we have 11 days to be out with no where to go and no money for a new place, or any friends willing to put us up out here (California, Bay Area). Our last ditch effort to keep our home was to sell our car, which should be great since it's one of the VW Diesels that got the company in trouble. Good news is, you get a huge bonus on the value of the car if you sell it back to them. Bad news is, the court doesn't actually approve the deal until mid October, at which point we'll be extra homeless.
I know at this point everyone's definitely forgotten all about me. Hell, I don't think I was all that notable before hand. Ostensibly I'm begging for help, but I don't honestly expect any.
Sorry, I'm pretty down.
We put together a Gofundme to try and get help. It didn't go far, but if anyone is willing:
https://www.gofundme.com/229gp7dw
Just want you to know not everyone has forgotten, and while I can't help directly, I'll make a journal about this for ya. Most people ignore my stuff, but it's the least I can do to try to help.
Best of luck to ya, matey.
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7765389/ Posted it
-Has your wife filed for wrongful termination yet? If not, you may have a case there. Maybe see where that goes if it's not too late and if there's actually a good reason to file (it sounds from your description this was a false arrest or something that resulted in harm--another case).
-Sell the car, get the money mid-October. Obviously you're doing this already, but make sure it holds.
-Ask family/friends if they can help. Given you've helped them already, after all. As mean as it sounds, don't let them just vanish as soon as you need something from them, when they were quick to come to you when THEY needed help. Be polite but firm.
-It may help to get a side job as well on your end: double income. Yes, you're an artist. No, art doesn't pay the bills all the time, as much as I wish it. Might have to put your drawings on hold to work a job that pays $1000+ monthly, at the very least. Even minimum wage passes this after 30 hours weekly.
There was a workman's compensation case, but it's been lost. The EEOC is also suing Apple for us for violation of the American's with Disabilities Act, but those cases generally take years. The problem with the courts is they take for fucking ever, and you spend the whole time trying to stay afloat. It's a pretty fucked system.
Yeah, I'm going to see if a loan place is willing to give us one on the car. I know they'll be predatory, but I'll take that over being homeless.
As for a job, already working on that, but it's complicated. I mean, I already stopped doing art when this all started. Even if I had the time, my mental state doesn't really promote artwork these days. I just keep hoping I'll be able to again some day. Right now it's more about a race against time, as the money situation will resolve soon, but not soon enough.
Thanks for all of the advise. I'm not refusing any of it, just clarifying where things are.
I'll post more journals to update folks on what's going on, and with any luck I'll be able to work on art again soon. It would probably be therapeutic for me.
It's a very different sort of 'poor' from what I'm used to.
You might have to move to a place with lower cost of living, too. In a new state, try applying for disability, not just at the state level but also at the federal level. See if any of you can get SSD. That would be a big weight off your shoulders.
Aside from various free legal services in every city that will take an eviction notice and get you connected with the services that prevents homelessness - I happen to know that the emergency service for the bay area is called Season of Sharing, and checks go directly to your landlord and utility companies. https://seasonofsharing.org