When the Wheels Fall Off - Almost Literally??

l'm Syd! a trans, stage 3 cancer survivor & freelancing artist from the USA. My spouse, a rural last-mile mail carrier, and I are at the point where we need to ask for some help. We are already paying back a home equity loan so can't take another, and credit cards dont have the space left for this.

Our new-used car, a 2006 nissan murano we've had for a year, had the sub-frame (the K frame on a nissan murano like ours) break. If you look at the photo of the car, you can see the back wheels are rather unintentionally stanced inward. It's our only car and it's un-driveable. The repair is likely to break down as such:

While the car is out of commission, we're also forced to use a rental. Paying for the rental is going to be $2k, minimum. To put down for it my spouse had to spend his entire paycheck. We've taken money from his retirement but it's a) haha you really only do this in emergencies it doesnt feel great and B) taking a while to actually get here. We're really struggling with that.

So at this point in the story - we need about $5k.

Some might note that's about the cost of a new/used car already. At this point it's just less of a pain in the butt for us to fix the car we have properly than search for and register a new car, which is why we are choosing to repair.

There are also just small springtime things I had hoped to have the money for which we no longer do. Things that will, ideally, help us to better weather whatever is going to happen to here in the USA. I am in the process of building raised garden beds, and a budget of $200 for seedlings and maybe even a couple apple trees would go a long way!!!

The other thing which will help us cut cost of living is to add insulation to our attic crawlspace. This space has not been accessed by a human in perhaps 50 years, but an energy audit specialist stuck a smartphone up there on a stick and looked around and declared we have about 3 inches (max) of insulation. The general suggested minimum is 6 inches of insulation. I ran the space's measurements with a home improvement store stock calculator and the insulation required to get this space up to spec is going to be $800 usd. Insulation in this space will prevent the loss of heat during winter and help us cut down on the amount of energy burned to keep above freezing in new england.

I'd also like some supplies to repaint the bathroom with some mildew resistant paints, and do other small repairs that will help the house be ready to sell if, in the worst case scenario, we're forced to leave our home for safety. So:

There is also the matter of two of our senior cats needing their yearly physical next month. Nothing is immediately wrong with the girls, but big emergencies like this wipe out what little savings were set aside to pay for their vetting. I'd like to be able to afford senior bloodwork for both of them so.

At this point if you're keeping up with my math, we're at something like $6800. So the extra?

Other reasons why you ought help me out!!

you can always buy my physical art books/stickers/paintings at my shop if you'd rather!

i also offer ebook versions of my comics and zines for download which you can opt to pay for.

In the extremely unlikely event this GFM blows past its goal, I might add onto it for the sum of a safety net should we be fored to flee. But that's an if-and-when situation. Please consider helping me out.

Thank you <3