Aid for Rachel & Sebastian's Stability Journey

Stability for Sebastian.

That's all I want.

Hello, our names are Rachel (37) and Sebastian (9). We love going on adventures together, learning how to be our best selves, and helping those that we can. Sebastian wants to be either an Astronaut or a Youtuber when he grows up! He loves gaming, camping, and all animals. At this point, I really enjoy my quiet time, though I really enjoy going to any live performance or show, creating art, and playing games with Seb.

We've had a lot of hurdles the last few years, we've made amazing memories and friends, have moved a few times and have some amazing people in our lives but it's also been really hard.

In 2021, I got a new job with Ramsey County here in MN and I still have it but early in 2022, I was sent on medical leave as my job couldn't meet the restrictions my doctor had made for me. This put us back into financial instability since the money I was sporadically receiving was very limited, but I thought that I could still handle it and keep us safe. Then my car started having one issue after another and took any savings I had. I am also paying for my specialty care out of pocket since insurance doesn’t cover it.

I’ve been experiencing extreme jaw, head, and neck pain and I couldn’t eat, sing, or read stories with Seb. I couldn’t handle it any more so I found a specialist and signed up for a care plan with them. It got a lot worse. I would wake up crying because turning my head made my jaw feel like a bad game of Operation where you can’t avoid the electrified edges of raw sharp pain. I can say that I’m doing much better than that now though I still deal with constant pain and headaches. I’m now also dealing with ovarian cysts and am trying to get endometriosis diagnosed.

As someone who has used my car to escape and survive a traumatic situation, having the safety and opportunity a vehicle gives you is insurmountable. So we fixed it and then waited on our next check and got loans for rent from our friend. I've been trying to supplement our income with my art but that's not enough. I've also done cleaning for friends when I can but that's been limited due to pain.

In 2024, very recently we were volunteering for a non-profit and had an amazing day raising money to help those in our community facing housing instability. Then on the 45-minute drive home my car took its last chug of gas, spilled its oil on the pavement and the engine seized. In the midst of this, I was trying to get all the right forms to and from the right people to keep my medical leave going and now that is in review and I believe they are trying to remove me from my long term disability. I haven't received a check since May 2024. So I'm behind on two months of rent and don't have a vehicle for us. This impacts my ability to get Seb to and from any programs we've found for him, changes how I handle all errands like groceries and limits any other adventures we want to take together.

I try to keep these stresses from influencing Sebastian and he knows spending money on things can’t happen much these days but I broke down crying when our car died on us and he felt like he had to comfort me and get me to smile again. That weekend he had a number of bed wetting incidents and woke up crying worrying about me and the car. Let me tell you I feel like a huge failure putting my son through these things. So I think my next steps involve me getting back to a full-time job despite my pain. Maybe I can find a fully remote job that doesn’t involve too many phone calls?

I know our problems aren't unique and aren't inherently life-threatening but they are so debilitating and I don't know what to do next besides asking for help. We just want a regular life.

Any donations will go towards our rent and then towards a vehicle for us.

P.S. Please don't think that any amount of money is too small. Honestly, $5 is plenty. You shouldn't feel you have to give any more than that. It’s also super helpful to share this, the more people that see this the better.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.