Help Sam Heal During Job Search!
Donation protected
UPDATE:
Thanks to the generosity of wonderful people, Sam is able to stay in her home in Spokane. THANK YOU to all have given to help her. The stress relief of the largest financial burden has lifted Sam's spirits and made other short term goals feel more reachable.
While things are slowly getting better, Sam needs our help to get through these next few months. Sam is currently attending several medical appointments a week in addition to focusing on intense physical therapy and pain management practice. The good news is that in many ways Sam is doing better, and has begun looking into what types of part-time jobs she may be able to handle in the near future. Physical therapy is expected to be a full-time job for Sam through the month of November (multiple appointments a week plus recovery of several days after each session). It is Sam's hope that sometime in December she will be able to begin applying for and secure part-time work. Between now and then, Sam's financial situation is unstable as she utilizes the last of available funds to cover medical expenses, food, utilities, etc.
Sam is looking into assistance programs for the help she may need long term. Between that and part-time employment, Sam hopes to be self-sufficient in 2019. If there is anything you can do to help out during these last few unstable months, it would be greatly appreciated.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Sam needs our help desperately. I hope you will help her with any amount in you can. No amount is too small. Here's Sam's story:
In 2010 Sam Bragg was diagnosed with Lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. Inflammation caused by lupus can affect many different body systems — including joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs. The disease is often debilitating. Treatment is difficult, as each body responds to the disease differently, and flare-ups change over time.
Sam struggled with the disease until it become too much in 2017. She took a medical leave from a career she had built over 20 years, and ultimately ended up unable to return. Now, a year later, Sam who is single and has built her life completely on her own, has depleted her savings and most of her retirement.
Sam's medical struggle is severe. She is faced with:
SLE Lupus, undifferentiated connective tissue disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, angiomyolipoma (benign tumor in right kidney), hypermobility syndrome, degenerative arthritis, major depression disorder with anxiety symptoms, Raynaud’s phenomena, osteoarthritis, secondary Sjogern’s syndrome, chondromalacia patella, and mast cell activation disorder.
Still unable to work, Sam is faced with how to continue to support herself. Her medical team is in full agreement that Sam is still unable to be employed, and have petitioned on her behalf for disability coverage. Sadly, Sam's disease and corresponding illnesses are difficult to measure in medical terms, and her applications for disability have continued to be denied.
With no income currently, and her bank and retirement account nearly empty, Sam is faced with losing her home. While moving across the country to live with her mom is a possibility, leaving the medical support team she is currently working with would be detrimental. In addition, leaving her home and supportive friends would cause a burden that would likely send her body into a deeper depression and eliminate the improvements that have been made with her new medical team in recent months.
Some financial facts:
Sam's household expenses are approximately $1500.00 per month.
Medical insurance is changing for Sam, and her new monthly insurance expense is expected to be $1500.00 per month until December.
Beginning in January, Sam will be able to change to Medicade. but unfortunately her medications and specialized treatments are not covered by Medicade. It is unknown at this time what those monthly expenses will add up to, but it will easily be $1500.
For Sam to stay in her home and continue to heal and work towards a possible part-time job, at a minimum she needs $36,000.00.
We know this is a lot of money. Sam needs our help. If you know her personally, you know Sam is a giving person, having always put herself before others and built everything she has on her own. Now she needs us.
Thanks to the generosity of wonderful people, Sam is able to stay in her home in Spokane. THANK YOU to all have given to help her. The stress relief of the largest financial burden has lifted Sam's spirits and made other short term goals feel more reachable.
While things are slowly getting better, Sam needs our help to get through these next few months. Sam is currently attending several medical appointments a week in addition to focusing on intense physical therapy and pain management practice. The good news is that in many ways Sam is doing better, and has begun looking into what types of part-time jobs she may be able to handle in the near future. Physical therapy is expected to be a full-time job for Sam through the month of November (multiple appointments a week plus recovery of several days after each session). It is Sam's hope that sometime in December she will be able to begin applying for and secure part-time work. Between now and then, Sam's financial situation is unstable as she utilizes the last of available funds to cover medical expenses, food, utilities, etc.
Sam is looking into assistance programs for the help she may need long term. Between that and part-time employment, Sam hopes to be self-sufficient in 2019. If there is anything you can do to help out during these last few unstable months, it would be greatly appreciated.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Sam needs our help desperately. I hope you will help her with any amount in you can. No amount is too small. Here's Sam's story:
In 2010 Sam Bragg was diagnosed with Lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. Inflammation caused by lupus can affect many different body systems — including joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs. The disease is often debilitating. Treatment is difficult, as each body responds to the disease differently, and flare-ups change over time.
Sam struggled with the disease until it become too much in 2017. She took a medical leave from a career she had built over 20 years, and ultimately ended up unable to return. Now, a year later, Sam who is single and has built her life completely on her own, has depleted her savings and most of her retirement.
Sam's medical struggle is severe. She is faced with:
SLE Lupus, undifferentiated connective tissue disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, angiomyolipoma (benign tumor in right kidney), hypermobility syndrome, degenerative arthritis, major depression disorder with anxiety symptoms, Raynaud’s phenomena, osteoarthritis, secondary Sjogern’s syndrome, chondromalacia patella, and mast cell activation disorder.
Still unable to work, Sam is faced with how to continue to support herself. Her medical team is in full agreement that Sam is still unable to be employed, and have petitioned on her behalf for disability coverage. Sadly, Sam's disease and corresponding illnesses are difficult to measure in medical terms, and her applications for disability have continued to be denied.
With no income currently, and her bank and retirement account nearly empty, Sam is faced with losing her home. While moving across the country to live with her mom is a possibility, leaving the medical support team she is currently working with would be detrimental. In addition, leaving her home and supportive friends would cause a burden that would likely send her body into a deeper depression and eliminate the improvements that have been made with her new medical team in recent months.
Some financial facts:
Sam's household expenses are approximately $1500.00 per month.
Medical insurance is changing for Sam, and her new monthly insurance expense is expected to be $1500.00 per month until December.
Beginning in January, Sam will be able to change to Medicade. but unfortunately her medications and specialized treatments are not covered by Medicade. It is unknown at this time what those monthly expenses will add up to, but it will easily be $1500.
For Sam to stay in her home and continue to heal and work towards a possible part-time job, at a minimum she needs $36,000.00.
We know this is a lot of money. Sam needs our help. If you know her personally, you know Sam is a giving person, having always put herself before others and built everything she has on her own. Now she needs us.
Organizer and beneficiary
Lerria Schuh
Organizer
Spokane, WA
Samantha Merriam Bragg
Beneficiary