I could use a little help from my friends

Hi friends,

I’ve found myself in a bit of one of life’s challenging situations where I am forced to pay out several thousand dollars to get my car repaired and, on top of it all, I am also facing some medical challenges that warrant some time off but, being an Independent contractor and driving for a living, if I don’t work I don’t get paid.

Car expenses are to be expected and I would normally get them taken care of in increments. I got slapped with a $3,000.00 bill for a suspension job and replacement of a cracked tail light (the tail light was $750 alone) and Stewart Chevrolet has had my car since Wednesday and I won’t be getting it until Monday. The entire job was estimated by them to be almost $10,000 but luckily, I have found someone who will be able to do the rest of the work for 1/3 the cost and I could not be more grateful.

In the meantime, however, we are coming up on the first of the month and I need to get my rent and other bills covered which I would normally have made this weekend and the next week but without a car and, coincidentally, dealing with severe muscular and joint problems, I am at a standstill.

I am bad at asking for help for myself but was encouraged by a friend in my program of recovery to put this out there in the hopes that some of you may be able to help out someone who helps out so many whenever I can.

I love what I do and it is a job where I am able to connect with people, helping them get to where they need. I often share my recovery journey with them when the situation requires.

On weekends, I also do a lot of fundraising activity for various non-profits, providing the music for various shows and parties, donating my time as a DJ.

Living in San Francisco’s is hard but I am also disabled and driving is the one job I can do and do well because it doesn’t require being on my feet or adhering to a schedule when there are days my Neuropathy dictates I stay home. Besides, living on SSDI was NOT cutting it after I was forced to move due to the death of my lease holding roommate back in 2018. Getting back on it is also a challenge and I pray I can keep working.

I’ve done alright, but a few setbacks, including two 15 day COVID-related quarantines have put me in a lot of credit card debt because I relied so heavily on it during those periods.

The Pandemic hurt a lot of us, I realize. I know a lot of you would like to help but are unable and please know that I understand. But I’m hopeful that those of you who are able to help will look kindly upon this and help me relieve some of the added stress I’m dealing with right now.

Thank you very much. I know I have a very loving and caring community family.