Support Michael's Journey to Provide for his Family

My name is Michael and I am raising money to go to CDL school so that I can get a job and provide for my family.

I am a 40 year old father of 5 including a level 3 non verbal autistic child. I have worked very hard all of my life and because of a few factors have found myself in a tough situation. When I was 17 I made a stupid mistake like most 17 year olds, however this mistake stuck with me forever. Because of a stupid prank that got out of hand I and some friends were arrested and charged with felonies. I was ordered to serve probation and do tons of community service however this has remained on my record and with me the rest of my life. It has been over 20 years but this has always made it difficult to find good jobs so I started to work for myself. I was able to build a decent flooring company which I ran for 8+ years. After deciding to move on to bigger and better things I was able to open a marketing franchise in late 2018 which grew rapidly and did really well in 2019. When covid hit in 2020 we like most were not prepared. We lost everything.

I have struggled since then and we now find ourselves having lost our house and having to move to another state in my in-laws in a small town in Mississippi. I have tried really hard to find a way to provide for my family but have failed mostly due to my record. Let me tell you its hard to get all the way to a job offer to only be told that a background check is necessary and I can't be hired. That has happened to me multiple times. I have decided that while I don't want to leave my family for extended periods of time truck driving seems to be the best solution for providing for my family.

I need to raise money to help pay for cdl school and training. I have found some government assistance for school but it doesn't cover the full cost or any travel expenses. I can not get a loan or borrow the money form anyone so I am left with turning here to man kind for help. If you can't spare it do not donate but if you can, I can not begin to express how deeply it will mean to me and my family. Thank you for your time! God Bless.

Cost Breakdown:

additional tuition cost- $4,500

room and board- $1,125

rental car- $425

DOT physical- $150

CDL license- $175

travel to terminal- $325

on road training time- $800

supplies/materials- $500

Total- $8,000