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Relief for the Rivera's

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THIS PAGE HAS BEEN SET UP BY ME FOR MY FRIEND JASON RIVERA AND HIS MOTHER IRIS!

THANKS!
VERONICA

Below gives a general description of how the Rivera's wound up in this financial situation. They both work but it's hard when you are trying to maintain current bills along with playing catch up! They are good people and could really use the break that we've all needed from time to time. Jason is an amazing writer, he's hard-working, and is so smart. But it's hard to be the best you can be when you are so stressed out. It's hard when you feel the responsibility to fill such big shoes. He just needs for everything to be ok for his mother Iris and himself. The amount doesn't matter, every little bit helps. Let's give them a better 2015!

This story begins around February 2014. My father, Carl, had been losing weight noticeably for several months. The doctors previously diagnosed this as simple peptic ulcers but upon hospitalization my father was told he had liver cancer. Everything in our lives as a family was disrupted. We chose to fight it together, as a family. Unfortunately constant rescheduling by doctors, and not being able to “fit” my father in led to delays which further aggravated his condition while waiting for treatment. By June, my father was in immense pain and told he did not have much longer and that there was nothing they could do for him, placed on hospice.

For me, this was the most earth-shattering thing to be told – that I was going to lose my father and there was nothing we could do about it. For my mother, even worse, she’d been with my father for 40 years. Carl Rivera was a man who always did everything he could for his family. He sadly passed away on June 10th. Ever since, it’s been a difficult series of events one after the other.

My mother, Iris, was never legally married to my father despite being together 40 years, and the state of Georgia elected to no longer recognize common law marriages, as a result she has been told she will get nothing from social security. The mortgage company will not even speak to us, as my father left no will – and the life insurance companies claim that my father did not have life insurance long enough for them to honor the policy, leaving us in a difficult situation, fighting to keep our home, to keep our bills paid, and to keep our heads above water through lengthy legal battles. Every day is a new struggle to keep things going, one that takes its toll on my mother physically, mentally and emotionally. And as a result takes a toll on me as well.

All we want to do is be able to keep the home that shared so many memories of my father, the home that he fought to do the best for every day while he was alive. To be able to have the peace we have not been allowed since his passing. In many ways it feels like we haven’t even been allotted the time to mourn or even heal from a the worst loss in both of our lives.

UPDATE: MARCH 2015:  Unfortunately for us, further bad news would come when Iris, my mother was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer.  My mother took a brief trip to Puerto Rico to see her mother and sisters before she undergoes surgery that will be physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing later this month.  Moreover my mother and I split the bills and this means she will be out of work during a lengthy recovery period.  Any further assistance you are willing to provide us woudl be greatly appreciated in this difficult time.  Thank you. -Jason

Organizer

Jason Rene
Organizer
Riverdale, GA

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