Hi.

My name's Rob.

I'm an unemployed, 28-year old college graduate living in an inherited home with my 73-year-old father.

This fundraiser was originally one to solicit aid in funding repairs to said home, which later proved to be nowhere near as pressing and could safely be left alone. I have subsequently decided to reorient this fundraiser towards more general aid, as my situation hasn't improved. As before, my father and I are both unemployed, drawing only Social Security benefits-- disability for him, SSI for myself. It's by the grace of God and inheritance law we don't have to pay rent for anything. On that front, nothing has changed.

Before, I stated that the money would go towards home and/or car repairs. I requested of the people who donated prior that I may use the funds for more general issues such as food, expenses, bills, pet care (I own a cat and two cockatiels) as well as repairs; nothing frivolous, of course. The donors who responded said "yes"; I still intend to use the funds to improve our living situation, albeit in a broader sense. To be blunt: my dad and I need a safety net, and there's no other tenable way to secure such.

It tears me apart to reopen the fundraiser; I am by no means a greedy nor am I a needy man, and it honestly feels like I'm pulling an Oliver Twist and asking "Please sir, may I have some more?" by doing so. It feels like I'm double-dipping...even though my cause is (hopefully) noble. There is much less urgency and much less, if any *emergency* to what's going down this time; it's more, frankly, to recover some peace-of-mind for myself and my father. We have no safety net, no prospects otherwise, despite us both being college graduates (him an MA in psych, me a BA in history).

We are both wracked with depression after my mother (his wife) died of cancer back in early 2016; our life has been less life and more survival. We are able to survive month-to-month, but should unexpected expenses come up, we're in trouble, and would have to resort to loans and other such emergency funding that we would stand very little chance of repaying. To reiterate: I am to some degree impoverished, but not such that we're unable to keep the lights on. Unexpected emergencies, however, would very likely render us such, and I fear that happening.

I understand that there shouldn't be shame or distress in requesting aid for these kinds of matters, but...damn it all, I don't know where else or who else to turn to. I fully realize how tough economic times are, folks. I know good and well. This pandemic is kicking the collective backsides of humanity, the job market's awful and looter capitalism runs rampant. The poor like myself are left to rely on crowdfunding and other charitable platforms to raise the necessary lucre to live up to an even remotely-acceptable standard. Were I able to and should I come into the money and stability to do so, I would see to it that any donor to this campaign is refunded their contribution with interest. I don't like asking for help that I cannot somehow return in kind, so...you can see why this whole thing is incredibly hard to write and conduct.

I don't care what your reason for donating or spreading the word is, as long as it's helpful.

Thank you for your time, energy, and whatever, if any, funds end up being contributed.

-Rob W.