My name is Mark, and I’m a 100% Permanently & Totally disabled Army veteran fighting to rebuild my life after a lifetime of hardship — and my goal is not only to get back on stable ground, but to pay forward every blessing I receive to help other veterans in crisis.

I grew up in the foster care system after losing my family to addiction.

My mother passed from an overdose.

My brother passed the same way.

My birth father spent years in and out of prison before he also died from an overdose.

I was a troubled teen, bouncing from place to place, learning early what it meant to survive with no safety net.

Despite everything stacked against me, I fought to change my life.

I earned my GED, received an orphan scholarship to college, and earned enough credits to qualify for Army enlistment. In May 2014, I left for basic training — the moment everything finally felt like it was turning around. The Army gave me purpose, direction, and a family I never had growing up.

I served on Active Duty until March 2022, and then continued serving in the Army Reserve for two more years. I gave everything I had to my country — my time, my health, my body, and parts of myself I can never get back. But the physical and mental toll didn’t end when my uniform came off.

A vehicle accident, chronic service-connected injuries, PTSD, anxiety, and the long-term wear of military life slowly took my ability to work. I pushed myself far past my limits — job after job, breakdown after breakdown — until my body and mind simply couldn’t keep going.

The fight didn’t end with service. It got harder.

I spent years navigating the VA system, medical exams, documentation, appeals, and endless proof just to be believed. After a long battle, I was finally rated 100% Permanent & Total — a relief, but also a painful acknowledgment of how far my health had declined. I’m now fighting for SSDI as well, another slow, stressful process with no clear timeline.

Meanwhile, life didn’t pause.

Bills piled up.

Debts grew.

I gave up my vehicle, my credit, my loans, anything I could — trying to keep myself afloat.

My finances collapsed faster than I could recover. My credit is destroyed, my savings are gone, and every month has become a battle just to keep a roof overhead and pay basic bills. I’ve been trying to get emergency assistance through veteran organizations, but many are full, delayed, or unable to help right now.

One of the hardest parts of being a veteran is going from a world where your brothers and sisters would die for you — to a world where you feel completely alone when you need help most.

That loss of camaraderie… it hits harder than people realize.

But I’m still fighting.

This GoFundMe isn’t just about survival. It’s about clarity and purpose. Through all this pain, I’ve realized something important:

There are countless veterans silently going through the same struggles — financial crisis, mental health battles, fear, shame, and the feeling of being forgotten.

I don’t want anyone else to reach this point alone.

My goal is simple:

Help back on my feet now — stabilize my housing and bills that are immediate — and once I’m secure again, donate any remaining funds at local Veterans groups or organizations to veterans facing the same hardships.

I want my story to become a turning point, not just for me, but for someone else out there who feels like giving up. If I can get through this, I want to reach back and help the next veteran who’s slipping through the cracks.

If you choose to help, you’re not only helping me survive — you’re helping me turn this struggle into a mission to serve again, in a new way.

Thank you for reading, for caring, and for giving me a chance to fight my way back.