Katie: Help Moving Forward
Donation protected
Hi. My name is Katie.
A good chunk of you might know me as Kiwi.
A small sum of myself to those who do not know me: I’m a 22-year old, turning 23 in November. I live in Pennsylvania, with my retired grandmother; a diabetic, a smoker, and a kind woman at heart. I, myself, am an illustrative artist who works at ACMoore Arts and Crafts; and suffering from heavy depression.
I’ll keep this simple: Most of my life, I have lived in a toxic environment to my physical and mental health. I have gone through a lot of abuse through my life. Verbally, emotionally, mentally, physically. From school, and from the inside of my home. It has gone on for as long as I remember, and because of this I have developed high social anxiety as well as reoccurring depression: both mild to severe episodes, day to day. Both of these cases are self-diagnosed after thoroughly studying both; as I can not afford proper diagnosis from doctors. [Not even having a doctor to go to for the past seven years to be studied in the first place. Shame on me.]
Fast forward to 2012: I attended Moore College of Art and design for Fall '11 for a full year semester. In march, my grandfather - the only financial crutch for my grandmother's life, passed away from Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Quickly, sudden, and turned violent into other cancers. After his passings in the middle of my finals, I took my leave from the school due to no longer accessible financial aid. With him lost, my support crutch was lost. Mentally, emotionally, and in the end, financially for my grandmother; social security was cut in half for her monthly earnings, among other things to this day we are both struggling getting by. Getting work was fine afterwards, but it is difficult. With my grandmother busy in her doctor visits, her daily list of going places, as well as being careful on gas and the prices – it is difficult to find a second job further away. This also makes it difficult to allow me to drive her Impala to go out, or to go to work without her driving me.
To this day, I am still living in a toxic, hazardous environment around those that are making my symptoms worse. My depression is growing bigger, and heavier. My health is on the decline, as well as my funds. Living paycheck to paycheck has been rough for the past two years. -- Because of the chain of events that have lead up to here, I am using this funding as a [possible last] resort. This funding is for everything that will help me for the future to give me a light push for a better and more productive environment. I am not expecting to hit my goal, but whatever is raised will be extremely helpful to my cause and needs.
TL;DR: I need a boost. Living low paycheck to paycheck is taking damage, this environment is toxic, and I just need some help moving forward.
THE FUNDINGS WILL GO TO:
- A [slightly newer] car. My grandmother’s Impala is old, so a fairly decent car will reassure that we are able to get around places. [And insurance coverage, too.]
- Medical bills. I would like to be diagnosed properly with depression and anxiety, have proper medication for anything else that is wrong, and be given a diet to lose weight to my goal. I am quite overweight for my height, and a life goal for me will be fit and healthy.
- Possible surgery for my vision. I have a mild form of strabismus [eyes are not aligned] and astigmatism. Because of these two factors I have daily struggle seeing with my right eye, unable to see far or focus properly; thus needing optional surgery for my eye. This surgery can result up to several grand depending if insurance has coverage.
- Veterinary bills. My dog, Lucy – a yellow back and mixed ridgeback, goes to the vets every January. Depending on her needs [usually a check up, ear drops, and shots] can range in price from $250 to $400. My holiday pay goes to her, but even then that is not enough to cover.
- Help in groceries, gas money, car repair, daily needs, and bill paying around the house, maintaining the house until I am able to stabilize myself with another job.
- A chunk will go to my loans that I need to pay. I pay monthly fees, but would like to at least drop a small sum to lessen the blow in the future.
- A gift for my grandmother for being there for me. I want to treat her to something special for helping me keep a house over my head, and being there for me when others were not in my life.
To those who donate even a dollar to me, thank you. Every dollar, cent, is appreciated and counts to helping me move on from a financial struggle I am in. It truly means a lot to me, and this will be a chance for me to give in return to someone who has been there through thick and thin.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
ALSO: Due to fear of backlash from relatives, family, neighbors, please do not publicly share on facebook.
A good chunk of you might know me as Kiwi.
A small sum of myself to those who do not know me: I’m a 22-year old, turning 23 in November. I live in Pennsylvania, with my retired grandmother; a diabetic, a smoker, and a kind woman at heart. I, myself, am an illustrative artist who works at ACMoore Arts and Crafts; and suffering from heavy depression.
I’ll keep this simple: Most of my life, I have lived in a toxic environment to my physical and mental health. I have gone through a lot of abuse through my life. Verbally, emotionally, mentally, physically. From school, and from the inside of my home. It has gone on for as long as I remember, and because of this I have developed high social anxiety as well as reoccurring depression: both mild to severe episodes, day to day. Both of these cases are self-diagnosed after thoroughly studying both; as I can not afford proper diagnosis from doctors. [Not even having a doctor to go to for the past seven years to be studied in the first place. Shame on me.]
Fast forward to 2012: I attended Moore College of Art and design for Fall '11 for a full year semester. In march, my grandfather - the only financial crutch for my grandmother's life, passed away from Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Quickly, sudden, and turned violent into other cancers. After his passings in the middle of my finals, I took my leave from the school due to no longer accessible financial aid. With him lost, my support crutch was lost. Mentally, emotionally, and in the end, financially for my grandmother; social security was cut in half for her monthly earnings, among other things to this day we are both struggling getting by. Getting work was fine afterwards, but it is difficult. With my grandmother busy in her doctor visits, her daily list of going places, as well as being careful on gas and the prices – it is difficult to find a second job further away. This also makes it difficult to allow me to drive her Impala to go out, or to go to work without her driving me.
To this day, I am still living in a toxic, hazardous environment around those that are making my symptoms worse. My depression is growing bigger, and heavier. My health is on the decline, as well as my funds. Living paycheck to paycheck has been rough for the past two years. -- Because of the chain of events that have lead up to here, I am using this funding as a [possible last] resort. This funding is for everything that will help me for the future to give me a light push for a better and more productive environment. I am not expecting to hit my goal, but whatever is raised will be extremely helpful to my cause and needs.
TL;DR: I need a boost. Living low paycheck to paycheck is taking damage, this environment is toxic, and I just need some help moving forward.
THE FUNDINGS WILL GO TO:
- A [slightly newer] car. My grandmother’s Impala is old, so a fairly decent car will reassure that we are able to get around places. [And insurance coverage, too.]
- Medical bills. I would like to be diagnosed properly with depression and anxiety, have proper medication for anything else that is wrong, and be given a diet to lose weight to my goal. I am quite overweight for my height, and a life goal for me will be fit and healthy.
- Possible surgery for my vision. I have a mild form of strabismus [eyes are not aligned] and astigmatism. Because of these two factors I have daily struggle seeing with my right eye, unable to see far or focus properly; thus needing optional surgery for my eye. This surgery can result up to several grand depending if insurance has coverage.
- Veterinary bills. My dog, Lucy – a yellow back and mixed ridgeback, goes to the vets every January. Depending on her needs [usually a check up, ear drops, and shots] can range in price from $250 to $400. My holiday pay goes to her, but even then that is not enough to cover.
- Help in groceries, gas money, car repair, daily needs, and bill paying around the house, maintaining the house until I am able to stabilize myself with another job.
- A chunk will go to my loans that I need to pay. I pay monthly fees, but would like to at least drop a small sum to lessen the blow in the future.
- A gift for my grandmother for being there for me. I want to treat her to something special for helping me keep a house over my head, and being there for me when others were not in my life.
To those who donate even a dollar to me, thank you. Every dollar, cent, is appreciated and counts to helping me move on from a financial struggle I am in. It truly means a lot to me, and this will be a chance for me to give in return to someone who has been there through thick and thin.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
ALSO: Due to fear of backlash from relatives, family, neighbors, please do not publicly share on facebook.
Organizer
Katie Chekay
Organizer
