Help Chris & D. Secure a Car and Shelter

Hey, this is Chris and D with an urgent call for help. As some of you know, we have been struggling with our health (Long Covid - ME/CFS, MCAS, Dysautonomia, POTS, and neurological issues), which has put us in great financial peril.

To get right to the point, our car was just repossessed as we were already just doing our best not to become homeless. We thought that, worst-case scenario, we’d at least have the car to live out of for the time being as we could still work and hunt for a room for rent. Well, we just defaulted on the car loan not even a week ago, and yesterday it was repossessed.

Today, October 31st, is supposed to be our last day here. Obviously, with nowhere to go and no wheels to take us anywhere, we are incredibly screwed. Our goal is to buy the Honda pictured above, which is located within walking distance. It was originally listed at $1,999, although this morning, the post was deleted, and a new one made listing it at $2,399. I’m doing my best to keep in touch with the owner and stall him so that we can maybe pull enough funds together in time (and maybe talk him back down to the original price).

If we can get this car, there is a room available in Philadelphia that we were planning to take a look at before the car was repossessed. If that remains available, that would be the next goal. And if we can get a car, it would allow us to continue working. Chris also has a job interview Friday, which he could walk to.

We’re not even sure what financial goal to set here, but the car is the perfect place to start for now. And if this car falls through, maybe we could find something for $2,500 or less.

And if the car falls through, then maybe we could raise enough for a motel for a couple of weeks nearby so that Chris can still walk to the interview.

Beyond that, we’re not sure what else to say other than thank you so much for reading, for considering, for contributing, and for sharing. Every little bit helps. Even just a share if you are not financially able. (If you prefer to donate through PayPal or Venmo, message either one of us. I mention it because there will be less fees and it’s easier to access the donations faster.)

Lots of love to you all, thank you ❤️

(We will try to keep updates going here as well that you can read. Even after I post this, I will share some more details about plans for today for anyone who cares to read further.)

11/8 - 1:15pm - Big Update

I just realized that the updates I’ve been doing here only go to the donor’s emails. Well here’s a big update to catch you up to speed:

We cannot thank you enough for all of your donations, your outpouring of love and emotional support, and all of your shares, radio plays, as well as your own personal fundraisers for us and more ❤️ You have gotten us so close to reaching our goal! We are at 92% of our goal with $2,297

We have found a van that is more than the original car pictured, but with all of your assistance, and help from a friend’s family, this conversion van pictured would be far more suited to our needs. If we can keep pushing and not only reach that $2,500 but exceed it a bit - you guys will help us obtain a far more comfortable and livable vehicle. SO PLEASE KEEP SHARING

Other updates:

Today we received the official warrant of removal that gives us three business days to vacate. And if we do not do so, then by the date of November 15, 2024 at 8:30am (EST) a Special Civil Part Court officer will remove us from the property. We are fortunate enough that this warrant was not issued sooner. But we wanted to update all of you with that information.

Today we are supposed to view a room for rent nearby. If this room goes well, then perhaps we will be able to afford that and a smaller vehicle. Otherwise, we will really truly need to figure out a way to get this van as it is the most well-suited for each of our needs without a home.

Chris’ interview went well on Wednesday morning and he intends to follow up with the manager today. If he can figure out that job (even though it’s only part time), and we can rent this room, then perhaps we could stay around here after all. And keep our computer etc. Otherwise, the road life will put a lot of that up in the air. We will do our best to still be able to pursue experimental music, no matter which direction this goes. But we just want all of you to know the reality.

We want to thank this community from the bottom of our hearts. ❤️ Without you, I don’t know where we’d be. Thank you.

11/16 - Big Update:

My apologies for going dark for several days. It’s been a rather harrowing journey, with both its ups and downs. This is the first day I’ve literally had a moment (or the brain function) to write anything. I’ve even had bad difficulty texting (cognitively). I can’t quite remember where I left off. But I’ll do my best to keep a very long story short.

Amazingly, we have found a friend who offered up a room out of state to us. ❤️ We also received an offer of a room for rent within state as well, but this was as we were already on our way moving our stuff out of state. But the in-state offer is an open ended offer. We are SO grateful for both of these incredibly generous offers and for those that allowed these connections to happen.

I believe last time I updated everyone, the focus was getting that pretty nice conversion van. However, we actually ended up finding a much more affordable option and decided to go with a Honda Odyssey minivan instead. This way we could still transport our mattress and some of our larger belongings and things to sell out of state with us and continue to sell some things there. (Also just to have as a backup plan if we needed to fall back on living out of a vehicle for any reason.) Unfortunately, this minivan did not even last us a day. However, we were wise enough to have AAA at least, and didn’t have to pay for the tow. This occurred on the final day of the move. The repair(s) were more than we could mentally, emotionally, physically, or financially afford to deal with. We were able to return the van, and charged originally a fee of $500 for doing so. And fortunately that was lowered to $250. But we had to pay for a Lyft home, and are still out the insurance money at the moment. Going to try to get that sorted today.

During this process our GoFundMe transfers had been “paused” by the company for some unclear reason. This took 4-5 days to figure out, and finally by mid-afternoon yesterday they emailed to inform us that the transfers have now resumed. Thank God. Of course the transfers still take some time to process, but at least we should still be receiving the remainder of your donations in the near future.

So to resume back to the van crapping out on us… Needless to say, we did not have time to figure out a vehicle to get into in time before we left state. We hurriedly packed whatever we could fit into our friend’s SUV with the three of us that night and left. Left our mattress, our beloved photo printer I was hoping to sell, our furniture, appliances, and a large piece of ourselves. Other friends have been able to save and hold onto a chunk of our stuff in the interim here. But because of our much more condensed packing time, we forgot some other smaller things we have to repurchase. But we got all of our most important things. And we have ourselves and all of you. And that’s what’s most important.

We decided to give our friend all of our ink and photo paper from the gallery days because we didn’t want it to go to waste. (She actually owns the same photo printer ) In exchange for all of that stuff she decided to order us a mattress which should be here by Monday. We could not be more grateful for all of this.

The warmth of others is really overwhelming. I’m a person who has always been awkward and uncomfortable receiving even just simple compliments (due to past abuse and trauma). Something similar happens when receiving gifts, especially big gifts that I know I have no way of being able to repay. So the generosity of everyone is just as difficult for me to personally process as all the other crazy, ugly stuff going on right now.

During this time we have physically been really put through it. We’ve been in excruciating pain the past 3 or 4 days. And honestly, I’ve never seen Chris in this level of physical pain in his back and joints. We both have had no choice but to push through our limitations. Every single day. And no it does not feel good or even worth it lol. It just simply needs to be done. We both probably need at least 1-2 full days of bed rest, but still we have so much to do here before we can imagine doing that. I’m not sure how to balance our health, pain, and everything that needs to be done right now. But we’ll have to figure it out. And then we’ll be back on the hunt for a vehicle and job.

I’m not sure what else to say other than without all of you I have no idea how we’d even make it this far. We still don’t feel like we’re anywhere near a finish line. But we are endlessly grateful to have a roof over our heads, food, and the means to get some other necessities. We cannot thank you enough for all you have already done to help. Much love ❤️