My Family Needs Help

The COVID pandemic has devastated families all over the world for the last 10 months. In some way or another, we have all been affected by this tragic virus that has taken the lives of so many people. During this time of sadness, fear, panic, and uncertainty, people have come together (relatively speaking, social distance ya’ll) to do what they can to make it through. Despite everything that 2020 has brought us, I have been amazed by the compassion and generosity some people have exuded. Helping others in their time of need.

Today, I am asking for that help.

Like many, my family was affected early on in this pandemic when my mom lost her job. She, like everyone, has had nothing but problems trying to file for unemployment. We struggled. A lot. Paying bills became harder. Almost impossible. We were living paycheck to paycheck like never before. Some bills had to be prioritized over others and soon my parents were overwhelmingly behind.

Fast forward to August and things just got worse. On August 3rd, I got a text from my mom while I was at work telling me to come home immediately and to call 911. When I rushed home I found her with the paramedics gasping for air. Come to find out later at the hospital, she had gone into anaphylactic shock. I spent over 7 hours alone at the hospital with her that day while doctors and nurses worriedly asked me questions. My mom nearly died. Several times. She was on breathing machines, they did a tracheostomy...for the next 2 and a half weeks I spent every day at the hospital by her side. By some miracle, she eventually got better, was able to come home, and now she’s trache free. But what immediately follows intense hospital stays are the intense bills. Add those to the list of things we can’t pay.

Of course, during this scary time, I had to go through what little savings we had just to keep up on everything. We lost the unemployment my mom was finally able to get and  she hasn’t been able to get it back since.

Our struggles continued and it got to the point where we couldn’t pay rent. My mom called our landlord and explained everything. He was very understanding and told her to pay whatever she could and that he’d work the rest out with her later. Panic and stress were eased a bit.

But not for long.

Turns out our landlord wasn’t as understanding as we thought. Because on Halloween, we got an eviction notice in the mail. We had to be out of our rental by December 1st. In the notice, our landlord lists off reasons why we were getting evicted but they’re all things that either could be fixed, aren’t actually an issue, or just fabrications. He knows he can’t evict us during COVID and for non payment so he’s trying to come up with other reasons. He’s not a very nice guy turns out and we want to move away from him. 

During this whole time, my dad has had his own health issues. You see, back in 2014, my dad had a serious brain injury. He had bleeding in the brain, fractured skull, he almost died, all that fun stuff. Over the years he’s been fine, mentally. But the last year, and especially the last few months, he’s gotten worse. He’s been suffering from memory loss, severe sadness, mood swings, basic tasks are becoming harder. His job has been trying to push him to retire and my mom has been trying to get that all figured out but the whole process is confusing and long. Especially during a pandemic. My dads work luckily has agreed to let him stay on but they moved him to a different department because his old job, the one he’s been doing for 35 years, became impossible for him to do. But with that, came a pay cut. So, if you thought we were struggling before, now it’s laughable.

Here is where we are asking for help. We have all been under an immense amount of stress, especially my mom. Trying to pay bills, save up to move before it’s too late, plus trying to figure out my dads retirement and health stuff, it’s becoming too much. I’m helping as much as I can but it’s hard. Our household is living off my dads and my income and unfortunately, it’s not cutting it. My family has been hit one blow after another and I don’t know how much more we can take. We’ve come this far without any help from anyone, but I think now is the time. I don’t know what will come of this, if anything. My family and I have been through a lot and we’ve dealt with it all on our own for so long, it’s hard asking for help. But we need it. My parents are amazing people and I want to see them smile again. They deserve it.

Thank you.