Wanting to Help My Parents.
Donation protected
Hi. My name is Alicia. I'm nineteen, I work a full-time job in the city of Denver, Colorado, as a receptionist for a corporate office. Also... I live with my parents, and we need help. Before I can explain why, I need to explain our situation. There is a TLDR; at the bottom if you don't want to read it all.
My Parents:
I live with my parents in an elderly man's basement. Excuse me. Part of an elderly man's basement. My parents live in a farmhouse that has been converted into multiple tiny apartments aside from the main house, where the owners live. They have very little space, no laundry access, and the standard of living is far below what it should be. It's weird, but we're all extremely poor and just trying to get by. My parents try to help the neighbors living in the farmhouse as much as they can, offering people rides, going to the store for the elderly man who lives above them and is too sick to himself, bringing people to pick up perscriptions and helping the home owners by doing any home and auto repairs my father can manage.
My father is disabled and on social security- when I was an infant, my father broke his back during a construction site accident where he was swept off a roof, somehow managed to land on his feet which basically crushed his back entirely. After his healing period he returned to construction work despite his pain, only to find out a year later that his back had never really healed, and that his first surgery had actually ended up being unsuccessful. This caused him to have to go in for a second extensive surgery to try and repair the damage. Because of his injuries, however, he hasn't been able to work. I'm going to be honest here- I think he gets hardly a dime over a grand a month.
My mother, bless her heart, worked at a hospital for seventeen years while I was a kid. When we moved, she got extremely ill and kind of... fell apart. Emotionally, physically, even a little mentally. She's now got extreme sciatica, arthritis, and carpal tunnel so bad that even stirring a pot of soup causes her entire hand to go numb. Because of this, she is unable to get a job that wouldn't cause her extreme pain 90% of the time. Anything that involves her hands, she really can't do. Anything that doesn't, her mental state wouldn't allow either. Lack of access to proper medical care has turned my mother into a shell of herself for over four years.
The Problems:
The point I'm getting at, is both my parents are unemployed, and the only income between the two of them is my father's disability. Now on top of this, and our living situation, my parents have very little to scrape by and saving any substantial money is virtually impossible with our impeccably bad luck.
Currently, my parents are without a vehicle, rendering them completely stuck at home unless I'm here. The transmission went bad in their car. $1,500 to fix.... My dad doesn't think it's worth the repair. My dad almost died two years ago, I think there's about $80,000 in medical bills that have been sitting at collections. That means their credit has crumbled, especially with the bankruptcy they had to file seven years ago to save themselves from previous medical bills. My father's health is declining currently as well. He had a recent surgery to implant an electrode box that was supposed to help ease his constant back pain, but so far it has only caused him extra pain and problems, and we are now discovering he may have hip issues severe enough to warrant a hip replacement surgery. There is of course a cherry on the top: both of my parents severely need a SERIOUS dental visit. My father has, I think, six or seven teeth total. They're all his major front ones; just enough so that he can smile. He's missing so many teeth because he was advised by a dentist to have them pulled, and was told his medicaid would cover the partial dentures he would need to have a full set of teeth again. Of course, his insurance denied to cover it, only after my father's teeth had been pulled, so my father, at 57, has to gum his food because he only has his front teeth left. I think it's also really hurt his confidence, and I know my dad would kill a man to be able to eat good food like steak and corn again. My mother needs to have at least three teeth pulled, and she needs a lot of work done. She would also need to get fake teeth put in toward the back of her mouth, I think. My mom also needs a primary care visit very, very badly and an appointment for her carpal tunnel!!! and a visit to a psychiatrist to get back on all her old medication that helped her before.
I want my parents back. We've always been poor. We've always, always struggled. We have never had it easy, but we've always been happy with what we had, and my family has always, ALWAYS tried to help out everyone we possibly could even when we were hurting ourselves. I'm only nineteen. I try as much as I can, but I'm scraping by myself trying to make it in the big, scary adult world.
How I'd Spend It:
I would use the money to first go out and purchase a good, sturdy, low-mile used vehicle that's good in snow, safe, and preferably five years or older already. Then I would drag my father by the ear to a good doctor that listens and cares and will make him better. (I will provide photo evidence on the ear promise) Then my parents will both go to the dentist, I will sit in the waiting room reading old magazines, and I will take care of them at home. And when that trauma is over with, I will find a way to convince my mother to get the help she needs so she can be my mom again and not just a ghost at home. I think after all that, maybe I'd be able to get them a couch that doesn't hurt them. Or a new bed.... The one they have is older than I am! If there was a way for me to afford a new place for us to live.... that, too. But I can't figure that one out. :(
The rest of the money would go to things that need attention; the medical bills, vet check-ups for our old pets, a good full-cart grocery shopping trip, and some new, warm clothes for both of them.
If by some chance, the solid black-lined bad luck streak dodges me while I write this, any money before February would be astounding. With winter coming, we've been lucky with the gracious, mild weather. But once that snow hits.... It's going to be bad. My parents need a way around.
My parents are my parents. I love them more than anything in the world. They worked so hard so that my life would be good. I cannot put into words how much my parents' strength, endurance, and ability to get back up inspires me to move forward when things get tough or I hit another bump in the road. They have made me into who I am; a rare delicacy for a nineteen year old, one who loves embroidery and painting and reading books with tainted yellow pages specifically with bendy, broken-in spines. If I could ease even a little stress off their hearts and minds, and help them sleep a little better on that damn, ancient mattress, I would sleep better too. I can't stand to see them hurt, and struggle, and sit in their own inability. They so desperately need a gentle push, a guiding hand stronger than my own, just anything. I am not religious, but I pray for things to get better for us everyday.
TL;DR:
My parents are both unemployed and disabled, my father is a Vietnam Veteran with no teeth to eat decent food like the old man deserves, and my mother desperately needs help so that she can get better and to a good place again within herself. They don't have a vehicle, we live in (part of) a basement, they have substantial medical bills, my mom also needs dental work intensively, and a new couch that's at least five years newer would be a really great Christmas present, too. I'm trying to get any well-amounted funds together by February, and I'm just a small town girl living in a really lonely world, trying to give my parents a better life because no one deserves to struggle their whole time on Earth. Also, ear-dragging my father to a well-recommended doctor.
My Parents:
I live with my parents in an elderly man's basement. Excuse me. Part of an elderly man's basement. My parents live in a farmhouse that has been converted into multiple tiny apartments aside from the main house, where the owners live. They have very little space, no laundry access, and the standard of living is far below what it should be. It's weird, but we're all extremely poor and just trying to get by. My parents try to help the neighbors living in the farmhouse as much as they can, offering people rides, going to the store for the elderly man who lives above them and is too sick to himself, bringing people to pick up perscriptions and helping the home owners by doing any home and auto repairs my father can manage.
My father is disabled and on social security- when I was an infant, my father broke his back during a construction site accident where he was swept off a roof, somehow managed to land on his feet which basically crushed his back entirely. After his healing period he returned to construction work despite his pain, only to find out a year later that his back had never really healed, and that his first surgery had actually ended up being unsuccessful. This caused him to have to go in for a second extensive surgery to try and repair the damage. Because of his injuries, however, he hasn't been able to work. I'm going to be honest here- I think he gets hardly a dime over a grand a month.
My mother, bless her heart, worked at a hospital for seventeen years while I was a kid. When we moved, she got extremely ill and kind of... fell apart. Emotionally, physically, even a little mentally. She's now got extreme sciatica, arthritis, and carpal tunnel so bad that even stirring a pot of soup causes her entire hand to go numb. Because of this, she is unable to get a job that wouldn't cause her extreme pain 90% of the time. Anything that involves her hands, she really can't do. Anything that doesn't, her mental state wouldn't allow either. Lack of access to proper medical care has turned my mother into a shell of herself for over four years.
The Problems:
The point I'm getting at, is both my parents are unemployed, and the only income between the two of them is my father's disability. Now on top of this, and our living situation, my parents have very little to scrape by and saving any substantial money is virtually impossible with our impeccably bad luck.
Currently, my parents are without a vehicle, rendering them completely stuck at home unless I'm here. The transmission went bad in their car. $1,500 to fix.... My dad doesn't think it's worth the repair. My dad almost died two years ago, I think there's about $80,000 in medical bills that have been sitting at collections. That means their credit has crumbled, especially with the bankruptcy they had to file seven years ago to save themselves from previous medical bills. My father's health is declining currently as well. He had a recent surgery to implant an electrode box that was supposed to help ease his constant back pain, but so far it has only caused him extra pain and problems, and we are now discovering he may have hip issues severe enough to warrant a hip replacement surgery. There is of course a cherry on the top: both of my parents severely need a SERIOUS dental visit. My father has, I think, six or seven teeth total. They're all his major front ones; just enough so that he can smile. He's missing so many teeth because he was advised by a dentist to have them pulled, and was told his medicaid would cover the partial dentures he would need to have a full set of teeth again. Of course, his insurance denied to cover it, only after my father's teeth had been pulled, so my father, at 57, has to gum his food because he only has his front teeth left. I think it's also really hurt his confidence, and I know my dad would kill a man to be able to eat good food like steak and corn again. My mother needs to have at least three teeth pulled, and she needs a lot of work done. She would also need to get fake teeth put in toward the back of her mouth, I think. My mom also needs a primary care visit very, very badly and an appointment for her carpal tunnel!!! and a visit to a psychiatrist to get back on all her old medication that helped her before.
I want my parents back. We've always been poor. We've always, always struggled. We have never had it easy, but we've always been happy with what we had, and my family has always, ALWAYS tried to help out everyone we possibly could even when we were hurting ourselves. I'm only nineteen. I try as much as I can, but I'm scraping by myself trying to make it in the big, scary adult world.
How I'd Spend It:
I would use the money to first go out and purchase a good, sturdy, low-mile used vehicle that's good in snow, safe, and preferably five years or older already. Then I would drag my father by the ear to a good doctor that listens and cares and will make him better. (I will provide photo evidence on the ear promise) Then my parents will both go to the dentist, I will sit in the waiting room reading old magazines, and I will take care of them at home. And when that trauma is over with, I will find a way to convince my mother to get the help she needs so she can be my mom again and not just a ghost at home. I think after all that, maybe I'd be able to get them a couch that doesn't hurt them. Or a new bed.... The one they have is older than I am! If there was a way for me to afford a new place for us to live.... that, too. But I can't figure that one out. :(
The rest of the money would go to things that need attention; the medical bills, vet check-ups for our old pets, a good full-cart grocery shopping trip, and some new, warm clothes for both of them.
If by some chance, the solid black-lined bad luck streak dodges me while I write this, any money before February would be astounding. With winter coming, we've been lucky with the gracious, mild weather. But once that snow hits.... It's going to be bad. My parents need a way around.
My parents are my parents. I love them more than anything in the world. They worked so hard so that my life would be good. I cannot put into words how much my parents' strength, endurance, and ability to get back up inspires me to move forward when things get tough or I hit another bump in the road. They have made me into who I am; a rare delicacy for a nineteen year old, one who loves embroidery and painting and reading books with tainted yellow pages specifically with bendy, broken-in spines. If I could ease even a little stress off their hearts and minds, and help them sleep a little better on that damn, ancient mattress, I would sleep better too. I can't stand to see them hurt, and struggle, and sit in their own inability. They so desperately need a gentle push, a guiding hand stronger than my own, just anything. I am not religious, but I pray for things to get better for us everyday.
TL;DR:
My parents are both unemployed and disabled, my father is a Vietnam Veteran with no teeth to eat decent food like the old man deserves, and my mother desperately needs help so that she can get better and to a good place again within herself. They don't have a vehicle, we live in (part of) a basement, they have substantial medical bills, my mom also needs dental work intensively, and a new couch that's at least five years newer would be a really great Christmas present, too. I'm trying to get any well-amounted funds together by February, and I'm just a small town girl living in a really lonely world, trying to give my parents a better life because no one deserves to struggle their whole time on Earth. Also, ear-dragging my father to a well-recommended doctor.
Organizer
Alicia Chan
Organizer
Littleton, CO