“When the day is over,
LET IT GO!
Don’t dwell on
what you could’ve done
or should’ve done.
Tomorrow is another day
and another chance”. ~ Mandy Hale
Have a good evening everyone …
Be Blessed!
~ C
https://allbuthomeless.wordpress.com/donations-welcome/
Image Credit : Live Life Happy
Getting there BUT Needs still EXIST ! Won’t you help us reach our goal?
$5, $10, $20, $25 …… Anything and Everything ADDS up!!!
Back in April, we were having trouble just getting by in the day-to-day meaning we were going without the most basic necessities, like food, and TP. ( plz read… ) Can you even imagine? I couldn’t until it happened to me. And it was out of that desperation that this blog was born. It was by far, the hardest thing I have ever done in life.
Slowly, thanks to the kind support of total strangers, things began to turn around for us.
It was only then that I could actually determine a realistic fundraising goal of $3000.00.
PLEASE NOTE : We were ( ARE ) NEEDY, not GREEDY! And the goal was NEVER meant to put on easy street and won’t BUT it will give us stability to move forward.
In the first month we raised approximately $ 100.00 and believe me, even that made a huge difference because we were able to eat and buy those little daily incidentals that we were going without before. By the end of the second, we raised $500 total ( this included gift cards to three different stores ) and we have since raised another $ 1,200.00 or so for a total of $ 1,825.00.
These funds went to food, non food essentials, two mortgage payments, auto insurance, a partial payment on an old garbage bill, one dump run ( a few more are needed ) and it also put gas our vehicle which allows us to access local resources, get to and from appointments and so forth.
PLEASE, at this point, I ask you to sharpen your pencil…Think about it, there hasn’t been anything extra to spend frivolously.
In the last two weeks, we have seen a SHARP decrease in donations ( but not traffic to the site which bugs me because I know these posts are being seen yet ignored by so many ) But anyway any financial RESERVE we had is NOW GONE!
The last of it went to pay a reduced portion of an old garbage bill, and pay for dump fees for one dump run which made a dent in our garbage disposal problem.
On Monday our last GOFundMe donation check arrived and it was ALL BUT gone before I ever got home from cashing it. I think I had a dollar left.
Monday evening, we received another $60.00 donation which covers the balance of July’s mortgage payment and that pretty much taps us out again.
Today, we are at YET another standstill and the IMMEDIATE needs are piling up AGAIN to the tune of $240.00 as new cycle of bills are coming due.
To be able to transition into the month of August with these things dealt with would mean the world to us…
The bills don’t scare me so much anymore because slowly but surely these needs are met) but there is still the MATTER of home repairs we desperately need to make. One is a severe plumbing issue and a backed up septic system. A garbage disposal issue that has been partially dealt with. All these things pose health and sanitation issues for us. And we’ve been living like this too long already.
I hope I don’t sound ungrateful! God knows that this is not the case. None of the improvements would have been possible without those who have stepped up to help. A FEW really STAND OUT! 🙂 They know who they are! If only a few more people could have as much faith, I wouldn’t be writing this post.
I don’t like writing these posts, especially when there is so little monetary support response of late. It makes me feel like crap actually BUT again we SILL NEED your help.
At one point a few days ago, I felt like I needed to chalk this up to another failure BUT decided we can’t afford another failure AND so I am asking you, ( NO PLEADING ) for HELP here.
PLEASE DONATE ( ASAP ) if you are at all able :
DONATIONS in any amount are GREATLY appreciated.
http://allbuthomeless.weebly.com/donate.html
IF you can’t DONATE TODAY, but would like to PLEDGE HELP at a LATER date, please let me know.
It’s VERY hard to budget when there is nothing to budget with.
Again. Thank you ALL SO VERY MUCH.
For those who have contributed ( some more than once ) We are INDEED GRATEFUL and are forever in your debt.
God Bless You!
Happy Hump Day! 🙂
I am not sure where to begin. This last week has been really hard ( you might say downright depressing ) with Sarra’s untimely death and all. Didn’t get half as much done as we had hoped to on the home front with our DIY projects , emotionally I am drained as is the pocketbook and it appears even the fundraising has suffered ( just to add a little more frustration ) to the mix.
We did manage one dump run with the help of a friend ( which put a dent in our garbage problem and stirred up a bunch of fruit flies ) with a $50.00 dump fee price tag. And were FINALLY able to negotiate a reduction in our old garbage bill which puts us back in good graces and enables us to resume our services this coming Friday so we paid them $125.00 dollars which was an unexpected but necessary expense. So bottom line, and the at the risk of putting it bluntly, we are tapped out again and only half way through the garbage project.
There is SO much left to do! Sometimes I wonder how many people truly understand how important and how genuine these needs are.
All we want is our life back!
We began this fundraiser ( 3 months ago ) with a $3000.00 goal. We have raised $59 % of that. All went to the intended purpose.
So as of today, Sunday, July 28, 2013, WE STILL have a $57 balance due for July’s mortgage payment and the house still NEEDS a lot of work ( combined represents the $ 1,235.00 we still hope to raise in this fundraising effort ) Nothing has changed BUT the slow progress and date on the calendar.
We can’t give up! We can’t walk away. AND WE STILL NEED your HELP!
Life goes on indeed, inspite of these things we have no control of. All we can do is keep trying.
So please, if you are able HELP us OUT with this. All donations GREAT and SMALL are GREATLY appreciated.
https://allbuthomeless.wordpress.com/immediate-needs/
https://allbuthomeless.wordpress.com/donations-welcome/
Thank you ALL SO MUCH and have a BLESSED Sunday!
~ C
TJ is the father of five including my two sons , from three marriages. His daughter ( not mine ) is the youngest from the last marriage.
Following?
By the time Sarra was born he seemed to have it together. He has expressed to me that Sarra saved his life with her very existence. And in the end she was all he had left.
ALOT on this poor girl’s shoulders .
In the last six years, they lost his mom, her mom, and her mom’s mother. Her older, maternal half-sister is sitting in the Florida State prison.
Still with me?
Anyway, to put it mildly, TJ and Sarra were very close ( albeit not the healthiest of relationships) She has some developmental disabilities so is not always thinking right. They bring out the worst in each other and it’s a lot for this 22 year old to deal with . She gets a disability check and all that.
Last year, he lost his job and was forced to sell his home ( a condo )
Sarra moved in with her boyfriend’s parents temporarily.
TJ moved into a hotel temporarily.
And somehow blew through $12,000.00 in like 6 weeks time,
Later they both moved in with my ex sister-in-law but only for a few weeks and were asked to leave .
TJ used to his mom bailing him out of everything, LOST IT!
In and out of hospitals, overmedicated, under medicated. Nervous breakdowns.
He has also burned a lot of bridges in his life.
Oh well. He is still a human being and my children’s father.
I have always tried to keep the communication open and friendly because of the kids.
Yesterday this poor man lost his only daughter.
She was struck by a car while riding a bike and trying to cross a busy street.
He has no way to communicate with anyone except at the public library computers and Facebook.
He has been pretty transient, with no permanent place to stay while he waits for a workers comp check which is due any minute.
I know Tommy (my step son) flew to South Florida today to help his dad.
Sarra’s boyfriend, is taking messages.
I had to share this news with my own kids today who never really knew their dad, let alone their half sister.
Do I feel loyalties towards this man STILL?
Yes I DO! Although I am not sure why.
As well as I am in touch with various members of this rather large extended family of ours.
The calls started coming in last night, I have two hours sleep since then.
This is another time I’d like to BE THERE to help HIM with arrangements etc. BUT I Can’t! 😦
I would if I could though.
Some don’t understand this.
He messaged me a little while ago on FB and he was at the public library waiting for Tommy to arrive.
Information is sketchy. BUT my heart breaks for him.
Please pray for him. He needs all the prayers he can get right now.
Thank you all and God Bless.
PS. If you’d like to read the news article, the link is in the blog post below.
We live in a relatively quiet working class neighborhood of mostly manufactured ( mobile homes) on nice size lots. Our home ( mobile home) is modest and unassuming but aesthetically pleasing, at least that is the appearance to passers-by.
We chose it for the picturesque setting , easy terms and low down payment. While the home is older, it was bright cheery, and spacious enough not to feel closed in. It has also been recently redone. Nothing fancy, but nice drywall refinishes ( textured) , clean carpet, new fixtures, blinds throughout. Easy enough to put my own personal touches in and make it a comfortable home.
In my initial appraisal, the only rehab it needed was the kitchen cabinets needed updating and eventually new appliances. Oh and the toilet, much too small and too low for my liking.
Well… within a month or so of moving in, we realized we had a septic problem that was alleviated when we stopped using the washing machine.
No problem, there was a laundromat around the corner.
Or in a pinch – we could do our clothes in the tub which we did ( do). We would spin the clothes out and then put them in the dryer.
And then dryer broke.
Then the laundromat closed down.
By then, our savings was gone and getting to the Laundromat in town became an issue.
As for awhile, paying our garbage bill which escalated even when we stopping using the service after our paid service was up. THe garbage bill is paid quarterly (3 months at a time) and we managed for the first six months of living here.
After that. the bagged garbage stacked up on the porch. A pile remains under a tarp. With the hot weather, it smells pretty bad and attracts buggies.
Our latest garbage service bill is for $219.00. $150 of which is past due. If paid, we can resume service but it will only resume and there is a limit to the amount of garbage we can put out on the curb for collection. We would still need to do a dump run. This costs money too .
Mind you, while we had the thrift store, we had access to a dumpster but we had to be considerate of the other businesses we shared it with so we could not utilize it to solve all our garbage disposal issues but access to the dumpster did help for awhile.
Then a plumbing issue was realized in the kitchen. When we tried to remedy the situation the fittings crumbled, rendering the sink useless. Of course, due to the age of the home, the plumbing is not a standard size and the supplies need to be ordered. Then we would have to rent an industrial size ‘snake’ to clear the pipes. And of course we could not hire a plumber to do it for us.
Now we bathe, wash clothes and do our dishes in the only bathroom. This has been going on for almost a year.
Not the most sanitary environment for anyone. Not to mention what it does to the psyche.
All this added to regular home maintenance issues that need to be dealt with such as the carpet needs a good cleaning, we need to get a pest control service to come in now, the blinds need replacing because of the hot Florida sun have left them brittle and breaking . The septic tank needs to be pumped out too.
So yes, our home has suffered . These problems are inevitable when you are struggling to just get by and there is no extra money for these fixes.
When closing the store, things got worse. Stuff that was ‘temporarily’ stored on the porch got wet. More mess.
I write this post to give you all a clearer understanding of the NEEDS remaining in this fundraiser.
I want you to know, this is NOT about REDECORATING or GETTING new furniture , this is to make our home habitable AGAIN. Up until now. this was something we had to live with. Sadly it was not top priority. BUT these needs have always been near the top of our list.
Now with so much of the other stuff dealt with. We look forward to focusing on these items.
Thanks for your understanding and support.
God Bless You All.
~C
Since April 17, 2013, we have raised $1,245.00
Our Goal is $3,000.00
We still have another $1,755.00 to GO! 🙂 But I know it’s possible!
To see how these funds will be used, please visit our updated NEEDS page.
These are all VITAL items!
https://allbuthomeless.wordpress.com/immediate-needs/
ALL DONATIONS ( regardless of amount, or means ) are GREATLY appreciated!
https://allbuthomeless.wordpress.com/donations-welcome/
Image Credit:
(Keep In Sight) acrylic on recycled window pane
Today, instead of focusing on what the needs ARE, I want to focus on what the needs WERE .
Back in April, I posted the first item on this checklist . TMI? I am sorry! But this was the REALITY.
The one thing I failed to mention early on, WAS that the last month before I went public with this, I was actually IMPRISONED in my own home for almost a month. Not because I wanted to live like a hermit, but because I could not face the world in the state I was in. NOBODY should have to live like that. I felt like a caged animal.
I am reclusive to a point in my nature anyway, but ad a bit of misfortune to this AND I was toast.
Things were so bad at that point, I couldn’t even think about goals, or the possibility of actually making any real progress BECAUSE the immediate needs were so GREAT! 🙂
BUT we’ve come so far! Slowly as we moved out of our crisis situation ( AND YES, I mean CRISIS) , I could actually see and assign a monetary goal to this fundraiser which was ( and still is) $3000.00. This amount will in no way solve all our financial woes BUT it will definitely release us from our overwhelming burdens that are still on our plate. PLEASE SEE our NEEDS page
As a direct result of this fundraiser, $1,245.00 has been raised to DATE.
WE ARE MORE than 1/3 of the way there! Be assured, your contributions have made a REAL DIFFERENCE for us.
As an indirect result, other things are beginning to turn in our favor.
Like the ability to get to and from appointments, interviews. In effect, opening doors to agency assistance that we were shut off from before, simply because we couldn’t afford the gas to get to them. Let alone, being able to show up with any kind of respectable presentation. Even washing our clothes had become an issue.
Again, we’ve come a long way BUT still have a ways to go!
Your DONATIONS are STILL needed and GREATLY appreciated!
Thank you all so very much!
We are so very GRATEFUL for your kindnesses, support, following, sharing and friendship!
God Bless
All But Homeless 