My name is Aaron. The photo above of our family is admittedly out of date - It's from 6 Christmases ago when the future looked better than the reality. We stayed briefly with acquaintances, but had begun our descent into homelessness - for the first time. Now, due to my health, we're on the verge again.

Grace just turned 13 before Christmas. Daniel is 17½ and autistic. Their mother and I are in our late 40s, are grayer. And, at 48, I've been hospitalized 3 times in December. The first week for RSV, when I was gasping for air. The end of the second week for heart failure, when too much fluid built up around my heart and in my lungs - though my ejection fraction of 52% gives me a good outlook. The third week, the final hospitalization was due to a bone infection at the same location where my middle toe was amputated last year. I am diabetic (better controlled now than ever, averaging 120-140) and so, I am unfortunately susceptible to complications that resulted in all of the above hospitalizations. While I returned to work for a partial day each on Friday and Saturday, I return to working full time for the first time in a month on Tuesday. As such, we've been completely without my income for an entire month. We were already behind in rent, and are facing eviction as a result. The $4300 goal I've set, while perhaps unrealistic, would reflect one month of missed work at my gross wage of $26.67/hr.

Even if we can't come to an arrangement with our apartment management to avoid eviction, any fund received will go to making sure we stay in a motel within 5 bus stops of both our jobs, so that we may both continue to work and climb out of our most recent fall into poverty (our jobs are less than 3 miles apart on the same road - I work for USPS, and my wife, Silje, works at a locally owned fast food chain).

Any help is appreciated; and I, my wife, and our children thank you for your kindness in trying to get back on our feet (no pun intended in my case) for the new year.