Help Craig Get Back on His Feet

Friends, family and co-workers,

We humbly ask for your help. My dear friend, mentor, and co-worker, Craig Ratner, has been on medical leave for over 9 months. His struggles with anxiety and depression became debilitating last year after some long-buried, past traumas surfaced. He was forced to deal with his trauma head-on and has put in a ton of hard work to sort through these issues in order to heal during this time away from work. Unfortunately, he has also had to spend the majority of this time away, battling insurance claim denials, filing appeal after appeal, and fighting for compensation from short-term disability. As a result, he has not been compensated in more than 6 months. His appeal has finally overturned the denials this week, but a compensation date has not been disclosed. He has spent the entirety of his savings and retirement and is now losing his home due to it being sold by his landlord. This is making moving impossible with costs and the inability to pay rent.

He is eager to discuss his return to work but is now caught in a catch 22: Because we work from home, he needs a home with an internet connection to work. In turn, he needs work and income to find a new home. This terrible situation has Craig facing homelessness today, as he is moving out of his home as I write this.

This man has given others the shirt off his back time and time again, for as long as I have known him, and so I humbly ask that we return that kindness by helping Craig with the funds to move into a new apartment. He lives near Philadelphia, and with rents having recently skyrocketed to a median of $2000 in the area, we estimate first, last, security, and moving expenses to come in near $6500. We know that it will be near impossible to come up with this amount today, but we hope that kicking off this fundraiser will give Craig some hope. Without a solution, homelessness is a slippery slope to be on when already battling depression and anxiety.

It is the hope of us all who suffer from mental illness, that society will soon come to realize that mental health issues are medical issues and that they have the potential to become debilitating. If someone experienced the trauma of breaking a bone in their body, we know that person will need ample time to recover. So why is it that if someone experiences the trauma of breaking, mentally, we do not see it the same way?

Anything you all can do, big or small, to help this wonderful person, is a step towards our goal and an act of love that will help Craig stay optimistic. The emotional impact alone, of knowing there are people who care and are wishing the best for him, is incredibly powerful in a dark place. And if you can manage even a donation of $10, this is a huge help! 650 of those and he is set. :) 

Thank you all for your support and kindness! Please take a moment to share to help get this out there!