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Storm Damage & Starting Over

I'd been hoping not to have to ask for assistance, but I'm kind of at my wits' end. I'm looking for help for two people: one of my best friends, and myself.

Let's start with my friend David. That's him with me in the photo at the bottom left, both of us all dressed up during better times. David's house sustained between $4,000 and $7,000 of damage (according to multiple contractors' estimates) in October 2012 when the remnants of Hurricane Sandy blew through Cleveland. The city owns the vacant lot next door, and a huge tree growing on that lot was uprooted by high winds, crashing onto his roof and severely damaging one side.

This wasn't David's first experience with hurricane damage. He was living in Biloxi, MS when Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, and lost that house as a result. This time, though, he wasn't carrying homeowner's insurance because his budget didn't allow for it after his work hours were reduced in the wake of recent economic upheavals. He spent the last of his savings just a few months prior to Sandy to have the roof redone -- something it had badly needed -- so he's had no extra cash on hand to have the storm damage repaired. To make matters worse, he was seriously injured on the job several weeks ago, and while worker's comp is paying his medical bills and covering some basic necessities, he won't be able to go back to work until he is fully healed (his job is quite physical). He'd been applying and interviewing for a second job until he got hurt, so now rather than getting ahead, he's falling even further behind.

It took the city several months even to come and remove the tree, and so far they've done nothing about fixing the roof "” they just keep saying they'll get back to him. Meanwhile, when it rains water leaks into the structure of the roof and the wall below. It rains a LOT here. I'd love to see David be able to get the roof fixed before further damage to the house mounts up.

And then there's me. I'm approaching fifty, trying to start over in mid-life, and hoping to relocate and build a new career. I have a college education, no children, and have worked as an administrative assistant for most of the past twenty-five years. Right now, I'm having difficulty finding any work other than short-term, low-paying temporary assignments and would like to switch fields for a chance at more lucrative opportunities. According to the Department of Labor, greater Cleveland has lost more than 50% of its administrative assistant and related positions since 2006. That was the year my elderly father became severely ill with numerous health problems and dementia, and I dropped out of the workforce to become his full-time caregiver as he didn't want to be in a nursing home. At the time, having me stay home with him was more economically feasible than his going into a home anyway.

Just before Thanksgiving in 2010, when Dad's health grew too fragile for me to continue to meet his needs at home, he did go into a nursing facility. (He died there just over a year ago.) I reentered the workforce in the holiday season to find there were virtually no jobs in my field, and of the few that were, nearly all were temporary positions paying half to two-thirds of what I used to earn and many were only part-time. I've been temping ever since and picking up side jobs when I can, but my income has fluctuated so much that I can't keep up with expenses. I'm actually sharing a two-bedroom apartment with my ex-husband at the moment. We're still good friends, but we both moved on emotionally long ago and would prefer not to have to live together!

On top of that, the 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee I bought less than two years ago and still owe payments on has developed problems and needs its engine replaced. I can't drive it at all right now, and have borrowed money from a friend just to make the payment, but I haven't been able to save up enough to get the engine work done. I desperately need to get it fixed so I can stop sharing a vehicle with my ex and also because I need to move out of greater Cleveland and out of Ohio, and go someplace where I can find better work. I'd like to relocate to Maryland (I have friends and some job leads there) , establish residency and take courses at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) for a career in public relations and/or non-profit management. This has been my goal for the past two and a half years, but it's virtually impossible to save up money for a move or school when you often don't even get forty hours of work every week and sometimes are off for several days because you're stuck doing temp work and there are gaps between assignments.

I've set a goal of $8,500 simply because that's my best guess at what it will cost (after GoFundMe's fees) to fix David's house, get my Jeep repaired and possibly leave me with a little bit of money I can use to move. For all I know I may be grossly underestimating those needs, but I have to start somewhere. (If any really generous and philanthropic souls are interested in helping me to also have some of money toward my first couple of classes I will be ecstatic, but David's roof, my Jeep and my relocation costs are the most pressing needs.) I should note that I am a writer, an artist and a maker of beaded jewelry, and I have the supplies on hand to offer original artwork and jewelry as gifts to those who donate. I won't promise that any of these will ever become collector's items, but I would like to do something nice in return for help, and I also promise to pay it forward in the future. I was raised to be a big believer in that.

Thank you and God bless,
Karen

Organizer

Karen Grant
Organizer
Cleveland, OH

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