Please Help the O'Brien-Webb Family
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Our family needs your help!
I've been debating with myself about posting this for a couple of weeks, but it's become necessary and unavoidable, unfortunately.
We've lived paycheck to paycheck for a very long time. We have been fortunate to be able to live this way for the last couple of years; in 2011 and 2012, we were homeless for an entire year. With a lot of hard work and careful saving, we were able to claw our way out of that pit and into a small apartment and a car that runs more than it doesn't. It's never stopped being a precarious dance, scraping together each month's rent and power bills, but we've been proud of our ability to do it.
On April 1st of this year, the day before our sweet rainbow baby was born, David was unexpectedly fired from his custodial job at the school district. He had received no write-ups or disciplinary actions in the two years he has worked there, and the reason given for his dismissal is trivial, at best... "cobwebs found in the corners of three classrooms". With no warning and for no good reason, we were unemployed and without a paycheck, again.
David was able to find work delivering pizzas within just a few days of Katie's birth. Unfortunately, it pays less than minimum wage (because he receives tips) -- and most nights he is scheduled only 4-5 hours and brings home $25-30 in tips. It's just not enough to support a family on. He's put out countless applications, been on a couple of job interviews, and signed on with a temporary work agency. I've filled out quite a few job applications myself, despite it being many years since I last worked outside of the home. We've sold everything that is worth any money to pawn shops and Craigslist buyers. We even sold our DVD movies to a used bookstore for what little cash they are worth. We've cut our bills down to the bone, not that we ever had "extras" anyway.
We're doing all we can to get our bills paid, and it's just not enough.
My oldest daughter is currently in a year-long inpatient hospital program for her various medical and emotional issues. We bring her home on the weekend days. She cannot spend the night, so we drive to/from the hospital twice on each weekend day. We attend family therapy at the hospital once a week. Five trips to/from the hospital costs quite a lot of money spent on gas. We've skipped a few times seeing her because we haven't had the gas money to get down there, and it makes me feel terrible.
It's the end of May, and our bills are looming large for the coming month. We have been late with the rent before -- never more than a few days, but our landlady is not a forgiving woman. We have been informed that after the 5th, she will file an eviction notice and she will not rescind it, even if we come up with the money after that date. The emergency relief office could help, if we had an eviction notice in hand... but again, once it's filed, she will not rescind, so that's not going to help us.
We're panicking. I'm beside myself with worry over what will happen if we are evicted from our apartment. If it were just David and I, we would manage. We would figure it out, live in our car for a while... but it is not just us. We have three children, one of whom is only 8 weeks old, and we have no friends or family to stay with this time.
I am asking for your help, and I apologize for having to do so. If you find yourself judging me or my family for that, please know that you cannot possibly judge me as harshly as I am. I hate asking for help, but I just don't know what else to do with such a short time frame. We are only a few hundred dollars short on our rent, but we have also fallen behind on our power bill and car payment. Any amount you can spare will be appreciated so much... and I will promise, I will pay your kindness forward at the very first opportunity.
Thank you, my friends.
- Heather
(You can read more about our family on my blog, The Destiny Manifest.)
I've been debating with myself about posting this for a couple of weeks, but it's become necessary and unavoidable, unfortunately.
We've lived paycheck to paycheck for a very long time. We have been fortunate to be able to live this way for the last couple of years; in 2011 and 2012, we were homeless for an entire year. With a lot of hard work and careful saving, we were able to claw our way out of that pit and into a small apartment and a car that runs more than it doesn't. It's never stopped being a precarious dance, scraping together each month's rent and power bills, but we've been proud of our ability to do it.
On April 1st of this year, the day before our sweet rainbow baby was born, David was unexpectedly fired from his custodial job at the school district. He had received no write-ups or disciplinary actions in the two years he has worked there, and the reason given for his dismissal is trivial, at best... "cobwebs found in the corners of three classrooms". With no warning and for no good reason, we were unemployed and without a paycheck, again.
David was able to find work delivering pizzas within just a few days of Katie's birth. Unfortunately, it pays less than minimum wage (because he receives tips) -- and most nights he is scheduled only 4-5 hours and brings home $25-30 in tips. It's just not enough to support a family on. He's put out countless applications, been on a couple of job interviews, and signed on with a temporary work agency. I've filled out quite a few job applications myself, despite it being many years since I last worked outside of the home. We've sold everything that is worth any money to pawn shops and Craigslist buyers. We even sold our DVD movies to a used bookstore for what little cash they are worth. We've cut our bills down to the bone, not that we ever had "extras" anyway.
We're doing all we can to get our bills paid, and it's just not enough.
My oldest daughter is currently in a year-long inpatient hospital program for her various medical and emotional issues. We bring her home on the weekend days. She cannot spend the night, so we drive to/from the hospital twice on each weekend day. We attend family therapy at the hospital once a week. Five trips to/from the hospital costs quite a lot of money spent on gas. We've skipped a few times seeing her because we haven't had the gas money to get down there, and it makes me feel terrible.
It's the end of May, and our bills are looming large for the coming month. We have been late with the rent before -- never more than a few days, but our landlady is not a forgiving woman. We have been informed that after the 5th, she will file an eviction notice and she will not rescind it, even if we come up with the money after that date. The emergency relief office could help, if we had an eviction notice in hand... but again, once it's filed, she will not rescind, so that's not going to help us.
We're panicking. I'm beside myself with worry over what will happen if we are evicted from our apartment. If it were just David and I, we would manage. We would figure it out, live in our car for a while... but it is not just us. We have three children, one of whom is only 8 weeks old, and we have no friends or family to stay with this time.
I am asking for your help, and I apologize for having to do so. If you find yourself judging me or my family for that, please know that you cannot possibly judge me as harshly as I am. I hate asking for help, but I just don't know what else to do with such a short time frame. We are only a few hundred dollars short on our rent, but we have also fallen behind on our power bill and car payment. Any amount you can spare will be appreciated so much... and I will promise, I will pay your kindness forward at the very first opportunity.
Thank you, my friends.
- Heather
(You can read more about our family on my blog, The Destiny Manifest.)
Organizer
Heather O'Brien Webb
Organizer
