Help Zeke and Dave Fix Their Lifeline Car

Hi there! My name is Zeke. My husband, Dave, and I are both disabled and unable to work. He has a seizure disorder we just can't seem to get under control, as well as fibromyalgia and a bleeding disorder. I have chronic pain and fatigue, to the point that it's a struggle for me to even sit at my desk for more than a few hours at a time.

We get by thanks to Section 8 and food stamps, but we have almost no income. (I might make $50 on a good month.) We're trying to get on disability, but it takes years to accomplish, and the process of making it happen is exhausting.

We always need help with money to take care of various needs like putting gas in the car to get to our doctors appointments, or paying bills that aren't fully covered by our Section 8 stipend, but our car has been steadily accruing more and more problems and we desperately need to get it fixed.

The most pressing issues right now are:

We've bought front brakes and the temperature sensor for the engine, but we need someone to install them. A local garage has offered to do so for roughly $250, but we would also need a tow there, AND a tow back. Our church has kindly offered to fund the cost of replacing our tire (with the cheapest option from Walmart— about $75 after tax), but they can't do so until they know the bulk of our other car problems are addressed, so that they're not spending a bunch of money only for our car to immediately break in some other way. Since we can't get the tire until after the garage does the work, we'd need to spend about $90 each way for the tow, probably $100 after tax. Altogether, getting the most pressing issues taken care of would be about $450.

Additionally, we really need to get our front wheels looked at. The alignment is off to the point that driving straight has the steering wheel at a 30 degree angle, and there's a constant wobble that is very disconcerting. We got the wobble taken care of once before, and it was due to a bushing of some sort. It cost about $250 to get it done before, so if we manage to raise more funds than it takes to get the more pressing issues taken care of, we'll take the car in to get a proper estimate on the alignment, etc. and update the goal if need be.

Getting a new car is entirely out of the question with our complete lack of income or savings, so fixing the one we have is our only option. (I also love my car, piece of junk that it is.)

Anything that we raise over what it takes to fix the car will go towards bills first. We don't get enough from Section 8 to pay our internet bill, and the government aid ran out in may; we also just barely don't get enough to pay all three of our utilities each month so we always wind up having to try to fundraise ~$20. After that, we'll probably fill the gas thank (which hopefully will last longer once the air-fuel mixture is working right and the engine isn't chugging).

Past that, we'd really love to pay down our debt with the storage place that has 75% of all of the things we own. We owe them $2100 before we can get anything out of there, not that our tiny apartment has space for it. It would be nice to have a dining table again, though.

That's about all I can think of! If you're able to help at all, we would be so, SO grateful. This car is the only thing that gets us out of our tiny, 3rd floor apartment, as well as to the doctors appointments that keep us physically functioning.