First off, I want to say how hard it is for me to ask for help. This is a long post, and I really appreciate you taking the time to read it. When people ask if we’re okay, the honest answer is no. Also, before I get into everything: if anyone tells me to get rid of Harley, please remove yourself from my life. He’s one of the only reasons I’ve stuck around, and getting him just happens to be where Murphy’s Law kicked in. Sorry if this is all over the place…
Shortly after we rescued Harley from being taken out to a back field with a .22, our landlord gave us notice to either get rid of him or move. We chose to move, but ended up losing $3,500—our entire savings—to an awful rental scam. We stayed with a friend for a while, put our things into a storage unit, and finally managed to find a place to rent a couple of months later. Then, not even a month into the new place, Harley sliced his foot open on a buried can lid in our yard under the snow. Of course it happened after business hours, so off to the emergency vet we went. We had to take out a loan that night just to pay for his care. Just when it felt like we might finally catch our breath, we got hit again. We lost our phone and internet service, which caused me to lose my spot on a specialist waitlist I’d been waiting six years for. Around the same time, my partner lost his family doctor right after being confirmed with fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis, just as we were trying to get his disability paperwork together.
We were pushing ourselves to the absolute limit doing Instacart—clocking around 36,000 steps on an average day and living off Costco hot dogs from the concession stand—until a car accident left us without a vehicle. After that, we were walking even more just to survive, gathering bottles for cash and eating a slice or two of bread for the entire day. We were left with no real way to make an income. I can’t take public transit for things like freelance work without having severe panic attacks from PTSD, which piles onto my depression, social anxiety, and physical mobility issues from past accidents, which limits the gigs available.
On top of all that, we’ve been hit with clawbacks on our only source of income, my AISH (now ADAP). There are two of us living off of it. They’re taking $200 a month while I wait on forms to be completed for the DTC, and another $100 was deducted because a federal food rebate cheque was counted as “income”—even though I didn’t even get to see it. During all of this, our deep freeze died, and we lost $150 worth of frozen food. Then, with the first rollout of ADAP, my payment was shorted by another $100. I spent an entire day on hold trying to report the shortage, only to be hung up on after business hours. Right now, after our automatic bill withdrawals, we are sitting around $400 in the negative.
Earlier this year, to top things off, both of my grandparents passed away. I was waiting and hoping I might be able to breathe once our tax return or a small inheritance came in, but neither has arrived yet.
Over the past three months, I haven’t been able to pay for our untouched storage unit. It doesn’t just hold our family keepsakes—it also has irreplaceable belongings from my late sister, who passed away from brain cancer for a second time. I’ve been trying so hard to pay it off and close it out so we can use that money for food, but I was just given a Notice of Lock Cut.
Because the facility won’t accept partial payments, I’m asking for help to raise the $279.70 needed to pay off the unit in one go. The account is over 30 days past due, meaning they are preparing to cut the locks immediately. If the balance isn’t cleared before August 16th, the late fees will double. I need to secure this so we don’t lose my sister’s memory and our family keepsakes, and so we can finally afford to eat. Currently, outside of a bit of food from the food bank and family, we only eat every 2 to 3 days. Personally, I am down to under 100 lbs.
I know money is tight for everyone right now, and so much is hitting the fan for so many people. But if anyone could please, please help, every little bit would be ever so appreciated. I’m trying so hard to get up each day… but honestly it’s getting hard. Between everything else and the panic attacks I get now just looking at my mail—wondering if I’m going to be cut back even more—I feel like I can’t breathe.
If you’re able to help financially, the Stripe link below is 100% private and secure. I am just trying to stay alive right now, and my brain is screaming to shut down and retreat back into myself. Even if you can’t donate, sharing this post is helpful too. I’d like to stop looking like skin and bones… and be able to afford some food.
Or you can click here to visit Stripe directly.
Thanks for reading this