Situation Normal All Fouled Up - HELP

April 28th, 2023

Thank you to everyone who has donated to this iteration of a GoFundMe designed to help me. Thank you to everyone who donated to last year's GoFundMe, started, and run by Kate the Great while I was convalescing. Thank you to those who donated to both! Thank you to everyone who has shared this link and thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my plight.

I am again posting this fundraiser on my social media because my situation is back to hovering around catastrophic.

In the past year and a half I have lost a great many things; a few of those things broke me on some level. On a super positive note, I was able to retain my real estate appraiser license in the State of Maine. Though, even this good news is currently a mixed bag. Although I am legally able to work again, I do not, and have not had the money required to start back up. Which is to say that starting to be able to provide for myself again is right around the corner. The obvious problem is that until I can do this, I continue to lose precious things.

At the moment I am in very real danger of losing my house.

I have two dogs and two cats. The thought of living on the streets with them seems too fantastical to be real, but here we are. I have been doing all I can to combat this potential outcome along with literal family and those whom I chose to be my family. And I am not asking for you fine people to fix this for me (though, at this point I would not turn down a miracle).

What I am asking for is continued help paying my other, smaller bills so that my focus can remain on keeping my home. Bills which I am perpetually scrambling to pay include a monthly car payment, cell phone, cable/internet and electric.

My physical self has continued to get better over time. Unfortunately, my psychological self continues to be smashed apart at or near a point of healing, due in no small part to the continued stresses of money. Please help me retain and maintain the small bits of sanity I am fighting to get back that I might win this battle to save my home.

Thank you,

Benjamin Brighton

-----PREVIOUS STATEMENT MADE BY KATE THE GREAT-----

Hi Everybody!

Before we get into the details of things, we’d like to thank everybody for all of the assistance that everybody has offered in the past, whether it was financial, physical, or emotional. To all of you that stopped by to say hi or offer rides or make meals or even just dropped messages of encouragement…thank you.

Ben has forged forward this past year and managed to make it over some pretty hefty hurdles. He’s regained a lot of mobility, but (I’m not going to mince words here) has been declared medically disabled due to the long-term physical and psychological effects of his diagnosis of Transverse Myelitis. We are still working with his medical team to determine if his current diagnosis of TM could actually be MS (Multiple Sclerosis) due to ongoing chronic symptoms and symptoms that were present long before the TM diagnosis last year. The more educated we have become on both of these diagnoses, the more things become clear (and cloudy).

The disability determination from the state is official at this point, and we are working on the official determination through the federal channels (SSI/SSDI). State and federal disability are two different programs, and determination processes and timeframes are different. Unfortunately, even though there is an official disability determination on record with DHHS, he has yet to receive any type of assistance beyond emergency food stamps. He has had to apply and re-apply for long-term food stamps and cash assistance multiple times due to communication issues involving the type of documentation needed, and the processing times for these applications are insanely long due to staffing issues within the bureau. An approval for in-home support through Long Term Care Disability was made in early December, and this has also yet to start due to delays within DHHS.

At this juncture, the need for funds for home heating oil is high. The home itself is behind in mortgage payments and is in need of some repairs due to a pipe that burst during the last cold snap. Utility accounts continue to climb. Some help has been received through local agencies such as CAP, but funding is limited due to state budget constraints combined with the high rate of local need this year. With the promise of assistance through state aid, Ben has been able to fend off debt collectors to some degree, but time is running short.

We are asking for assistance to pay down utility bills and raise money for home repairs and make a dent in the mortgage. These situations are terrible, and asking for assistance again is extremely hard. And humbling. And embarrassing. Nobody likes to admit that they are potentially on the verge of being homeless with their dogs in the middle of winter, especially when there is funding available through programs designed to help them. We are only asking for your help to bridge this canyon while we wait for the services that he’s been approved for to begin.

Kate Brighton