Please help Robert fight eviction & homelessness

My dad Robert Lee Asplund, Jr. is about to lose his rental and face homelessness as his landlord of over 15 years is evicting him unless he can produce $2,000 to $3,000 within the next couple weeks.

At 61, Robert has worked hard his whole life in spite of a rough childhood, a divorce, becoming a single father, and his current health issues that have forced him to retire from the automotive industry that he loves and go on disability. He worked so hard that he no longer had any discs remaining in his lower back, requiring him to undergo an unsuccessful lumbar fusion surgery over 10 years ago. Prior to the surgery, he couldn’t walk. Although he has since regained his gait, he often reminds me that the the pain from the loose screws is excruciating.

Last year around Easter, Robert suffered a mini stroke. His health by that point had been slowly declining due to type 1 diabetes, a bad knee, disc degeneration in his neck, and arthritis in his hands from years of working on cars. Still, he continued to work. The mini stroke didn’t stop him, either. His body, however, protested, and, finally, he retired earlier this year and got on disability. He began to suffer from short-term memory loss, bouts of confusion, migraines, and fainting. Falling from a 6’1” above the ground is painful—and he would continue to faint over and over, sometimes on his face, sometimes breaking his ribs and even his foot in six places. On one occasion, he was admitted to the hospital for 10 days after a nasty fall. Recently, he was diagnosed with early onset dementia. Also recently, his disability checks stopped coming.

His doctor prolonged approving him for permanent disability, meaning he had been on temporary disability the past year. In order for the checks to continue to arrive, he needed to switch over to permanent disability, a daunting task when you’re struggling to remember what you had for breakfast. He’s already begun the application, but after a month without money, he has nothing to offer to his landlord.

Still, my dad is insisting on picking up odd jobs here and there—“whatever it takes, by any means,” he says—to make $2000-$3000 to evade homelessness when he can barely complete his daily tasks. Because I currently live overseas in Japan, there is absolutely nothing I can do to help him other than send over a small sum of money that is brutally diminished by the time it gets to him as a result of the devaluing yen and Japanese transfer fees. He refuses any help at all and is currently in the midst of receiving aid from the city of Santa Cruz. There is a high chance he will not qualify. If there is anyone willing to chip in even a few dollars, it would mean everything. Thanks so much in advance.

If anyone reading this knows Robert personally, I would like to ask that you refrain from mentioning to him this fundraiser and the eviction altogether. Despite facing homelessness, he is your typical old-school man who HATES the idea or troubling anyone even though he’s given away his own money in the past to help those in need. I will be in so much trouble! Thank you again!