URGENT: Car repair, household bills, medical expenses, taxes

I am embarrassed and ashamed to be here again, launching another GoFundMe campaign, only four months after the first one. I wish I didn't have to do this, but I honestly don't know what else to do.

The goal of the previous campaign, launched in late January, was to raise the funds needed to get my 2000 Volvo S70 repaired and back on the road so that I could get back to work. The car suffered a catastrophic engine failure the previous April and sat "dead" in front of my house for 10 months. During that time, I was very generously loaned a pickup truck by a friend so that I could get back to work, but it was involved in an accident (not my fault) that totalled the vehicle (I was not injured, thankfully). I was provided a rental car by the other driver's insurance company for 30 days but once that period expired and the rental car returned, I was without transportation once again. I did not (and still do not) have the financial resources, assets or credit to buy another car or get the Volvo repaired on my own, so the campaign was launched to get the Volvo repaired. Thanks to the enormous generosity of more than 30 people, enough donations were received to pay for the purchase and installation of a replacement engine for the Volvo and get back on the road and back to work after having been out of work for three weeks. I will be forever grateful to those generous donors who made that possible.

I was able to return to work in late February and the car performed nicely for exactly twelve weeks. Being out of work for so long caused many of my household bills to become past due, some of them WAY past due. I hit the streets every day that I was physically able to do so to get caught up on those bills and over the next twelve weeks, I was able to make some progress. One of the bills that I was not able to make any payments on is my property taxes, which became past due last December. Financial triage required prioritizing paying the mortgage, the utilities, auto and home insurance, cell phone, food and gas and gasoline before taxes. The plan was to get caught up on the monthly bills and then start making way-overdue payments on the property taxes.

But Fate had other plans. On May 19, as I was heading home after a long day at work, the Volvo's engine threw a rod, making the car essentially undrivable... again. The car barely made it home, limping and stalling out on the way. The engine will crank (at least, it did the last time I tried), but there is a loud clanging of metal parts, as if Granny Clampett was beating pots and pans on a clothesline with a baseball bat. My next-door neighbor, who is a mechanic, diagnosed the thrown rod. I cannot even begin to describe how angry, upset, mad and terrified I was (and continue to be) at this development. Twelve weeks! The engine threw a rod after twelve weeks! I just couldn't (and still can't) believe this is happening to me. But it is. Out of work... AGAIN.

The next day, having completely run out of sweetener for my coffee, I walked across the street to a convenience store for a box of Splenda. By the time I made it back home, my back started to ache, much more so than it normally does. More about this in a moment.

The first and most important question to be answered after the engine failed was whether it was under warranty. I called the used auto parts store I bought it from and yes, it came with a 90-day warranty. I checked the dates on my receipts, calculated the time passed since then and unbelievably, the engine threw a rod on exactly the 90th day. The parts store somewhat reluctantly agreed that the warranty was in effect and was willing to replace the engine... IF he had another one that was compatible with my car. He reminded me when I bought the first one in February that that model car is 24 years old and engines for them don't come along just every day, and that I was actually lucky he had one in stock when I needed one. The bad news this time is that he did NOT have another compatible engine in stock, but that he would "look around" for one and let me know if he could find one. I've been calling him every other day since then with no luck... until today, May 30. He told me he'd found one that would fit my car. So this is the first good news in a wave of bad news. However, it is important to remember that he is only a parts dealer, not a repair shop, and I would have to have the engine picked up and transported to the repair shop for Yet Another Engine Installation. It is even more important to understand that only the engine was under warranty, not the installation, which was performed by a repair shop. I will have to pay for the transport of the engine AND to put it in the car, as well as towing of the car itself to that shop.

The ache in my back that started last Monday May 20 continued to get worse over the next four days, no matter how much "rest" I got or how many OTC pain meds I was taking. By Thursday, I could barely walk. I posted about this situation on Facebook and as a result, a dear friend came and got me the next day and took me to the Emergency Room for care. They ran some blood tests, did a CAT scan and sent me home late that night with some prescriptions for pain. I got those filled the next day and since then, there has been very little improvement. They told me to come back in a week if the pain got worse or there was no improvement. I am still in a lot of pain so I am planning on returning to the hospital for a follow-up as soon as I can find a ride. There will hopefully be prescriptions given to me for the pain that will have to be filled.

AND JUST TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE: Last week I received a letter from my mortgage company stating that they had "discovered" that I had not yet paid my property taxes, and that failure to do so can and will result in a default on my mortgage loan. Defaulting on a mortgage loan is the first step towards initiating a foreclosure. They are demanding to know if I've paid those taxes and if so, they want to see the receipts immediately. If I fail to pay those taxes and provide them a receipt, the absolute worst could and will happen: I lose my house and become homeless. As if everything else wasn't already bad enough... NOW, THIS.

And so, here I am again, asking for your help. These are the items that need to be taken care of as soon as possible:

1) The replacement engine transported from northwest Atlanta to Marietta, cost unknown, guessing $150

2) Towing my car from Doraville to Marietta, approximately $150

3) Labor to replace the engine in the car, cost unknown but estimating approximately $1,400

4) Recently past due and imminently due household bills, approximately $800

5) Additional prescriptions, not yet prescribed, that will need to be filled, cost unknown, guessing $100

6) Past due property taxes, $1,800

The total of these amounts is $4,400. GoFundMe takes 2.9% + 30¢ per donation, so add $132 which brings it up to $4,532. And because all these numbers are estimates and guesses, let's just go ahead and make the goal amount a nice round $5,000, because there will likely be additional costs that I can't predict here and now.

I know this is a big number and I know this is a big ask, especially considering that so many folks donated to the last campaign, and it is a HUGE blow to my self-esteem to be here again, asking for help. But bad things happen to good people and I seem to be getting more than my fair share of the bad this year. I've been as open, up front and transparent about my situation as I can possibly be. If you've donated before, THANK YOU AGAIN. If you can donate again or now for the first time, THANK YOU.