My wife and I met in college 16 and a half years ago and will be married twelve years in August. We always knew she had a rough childhood, and she told me numerous times that she didn’t remember much before the age of twelve. Last year, she remembered enduring the worst child abuse I’ve ever heard of, worse than any horror movie I’ve seen. The memories returned over the course of the past year, and reliving her childhood abuse with her… crushed me. I’ve been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and severe PTSD. I recently did the math and to my closest estimation, I’ve spent nearly 5,000 hours in the past year imagining my wife’s childhood abuse. In June, I spent two weeks in a Partial Hospitalization Program for people healing from trauma. What’s more, my wife told me while I was in the program that she wants a divorce.

Because of my mental health and some chronic health issues I’ve been dealing with for years, I haven’t been able to work since 2023. I'm currently living in my car and am working with a lawyer to apply for disability. The little money I had, I’ve used to buy the things I need to turn my car into a camper I can live in: a bed, a car refrigerator, a propane stove, a power station, and solar panels to recharge it. However, sleeping in my car in the middle of summer, I'm at risk of getting heat stroke or heat exhaustion. I need a $800 miniature air conditioner/heating unit and a $1,700 expansion to my current power bank to be able to run it. While I'm applying for disability, I could also really use help paying for food and gas as well. I’ve started DoorDashing to try to get the money I need, but with my limitations, it’s clear I can’t earn enough to even cover my daily living expenses—let alone save enough to purchase the air conditioner and battery expansion I need.