Help Us Get Through This Year.

I suppose I should start from the beginning.

I became pregnant with my only son in December 2006, to a man I met a few years prior through the cycling and punk communities in Chicago. He was inconsistently involved at best, so I returned to PA in search of more support (he did visit once during the decade we lived in Pittsburgh). I began to work in the social service sector and received my Master’s degree. Most of my career since then has been spent as a caseworker for individuals with disabilities or working with children and adolescents. I had to stop working full time for a few years beginning in around 2013 due to chronic migraines, but I was able to return to full time employment in 2017.

In December 2023, I contracted COVID for the first time and had to miss 3 weeks of work (using all of my PTO and then some). At that time, unfortunately, the chronic migraines returned. I fell into a deep depression and only left bed to use the bathroom. I stopped eating and showering. I applied for expedited reinstatement of my disability payments in January; they agreed to pay me for 6 months while they make a decision.

There was still no decision come late April, so I decided that I’d begin to seek part-time employment. I found one fun job on an ice cream truck that both paid better and was less stressful than social work. I got a nasty ear and sinus infection in early May and was prescribed Augmentin. I won’t go into too much detail about what follows, but I was admitted to 2 different hospitals from May 18-29 with what was finally determined to be a severe c. difficile infection. It’s week 10 now, and I am still not better.

July 3 was the last provisional disability payment I will receive, and the SSA has yet to make a decision. My boyfriend does have a decent job, but it unfortunately does not pay well enough to pay his hefty mortgage (due to housing shortage; it’s a very small house), all the utilities, all our phones, all the food and household necessities in this economy. I received $150/monthly in child support up until 2022, when it was increased to $600/monthly. I’ve requested a modification but have no idea how long that will take between 2 states, or whether it will be ordered at all. My only other source of income is selling records and t-shirts on eBay (PureJoyRecords, if you’re interested), but my health prevents me from getting much done.

I don’t have a TON of essential monthly bills, but I really have no way to pay them. They are:

Life insurance - 36.09

Car payment - 310.00

Car insurance - 87.22

Phones (mine & son’s) - 80.00

My son’s guitar lessons - 132.00

This, of course, does not include groceries (I am not eligible for food stamps, as they consider the household’s income). Or gas for my vehicle. Or toilet paper, which is like $17 for the store brand now.

I also have $13,435 in credit card debt which I mostly accumulated when I was waiting for provisional payments to start, but also to get by since ($1300 a month is not a lot). I’ve stopped paying them or taking their calls and am not sure how/when I will proceed there.

I have student loan debt, but have applied for disability discharge.

Anyway. Thanks for your support.