Help Cate Pay Medical Bills & Move
Asking for help is the hardest thing I’ve had to learn to do over this past year, and it hasn’t gotten any easier, but I’m asking for your help in my hour of need. I’m not proud that I’m in this situation, in fact I’m feeling a tremendous amount of guilt and shame for having to resort to starting a Go Fund Me campaign to help me through this dark time in my life.
As many of you know I used to have a great career teaching hairstyling at hair shows and classes I booked all over the world, and just before the pandemic hit I had landed my dream job working for a large styling brand. COVID-19 abruptly put an end to all large group gatherings, which meant no hair shows and no traveling anywhere to teach, which had been my primary source of income for at least the past 5 years. I weathered the storm through the first several months of the pandemic, but after getting let go from my dream job, while also going through a painful divorce and losing my life savings, I had no choice but to pack up my belongings and move across the country from Oregon to Florida stay with family until I figured out my next move.
I have battled severe depression and anxiety for most of my life, and like many others, the COVID pandemic, losing my home, career, marriage, and life savings all within just a few short months caused my mental health to spiral out of control. I had a three day hospital stay back in October because I wanted to end my life, and I still now battle those very same feelings almost on a daily basis. I’ve tried desperately to move forward with my life and I came up with a game plan while living with my family to try and start over again.
I changed industries by getting a job working in a retail cannabis shop in Portland and I was excited to get back to the city I love and start a new chapter in my life. Since arriving back in Portland I suffered an adverse reaction to my COVID vaccines, which has caused me to develop a condition known as cyclical vomiting syndrome, and I’ve been dealing with the symptoms all day everyday for the past three months. I’ve had countless trips to urgent care and multiple trips to the ER to try and get my symptoms under control, but not much has helped the situation. I’ve accumulated thousands of dollars in medical bills because of this and it’s made an even worse impact on my mental health as a result.
I’m currently earning an hourly wage not much more than minimum wage, and with all of the medical costs I’ve had to endure the past few months I haven’t been able to keep my head above water. Since I’m drowning in debt, sick with a debilitating illness, and my mental health is at an all time low, I can’t keep up with my monthly expenses, so I’ve decided to sell all of my belongings and permanently move back to Florida to be with my family. This has no doubt been the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in my life, I feel like a failure and I’m ashamed that I couldn’t become independent again. My mental health is rapidly declining and I desperately fear for my own health and safety if I don’t return to my family and come up with a new course of action.
I’m asking for your help to help me weather the storm as I pay for all of my medical bills and costs associated with having to give up my current living situation and once again move across the country to start over. If I have ever touched your heart or made a positive impact on your life in any way, and you are able to help me in any amount, I will be eternally grateful. You will never know just how much your kindness and generosity means to me, so thank you in advance for all donations and kind words of encouragement.