David's Fund - Lend a Helping Hand

Wow, I never thought I would have to do this but my brother David is suffering from severe depression and I feel I need to do whatever I can to help him.  He lost his job in October 2016 after 19 years of service due to the elimination of the full-time employees and has had one setback after another since then.  He lives back home in Erie PA so he can stay close by my dad who is in a nursing home and attend to his needs. David is single, mid-fifties, he feels tired, hopeless and alone. I'm his only immediate family and am 2,500 miles away.   John and I have done our best to help support him but his mental state is so fragile that he has not been able to  maintain a job and cannot catch a break.  Every positive thing that has happened or job he landed was followed by an event that ended his employment including eye surgery for a detached retina, car accident that totaled his car,  job training classes cancelled, job offers postponed or rescinded and then on Friday after only a few shifts he lost a customer service job that we hoped would help him turn things around.  

In addition to the severe depression, he suffers from debilitating panic attacks, has lost all confidence in himself and the will to live.  My realization of how dire his situation is occurred Thursday while talking to a psychiatrist he sees from a crisis prevention hotline he reached out to months ago.  They are increasing his anti-depressant medications but his depression and panic attacks are so severe that they now want to hospitalize him. On a positive note I pray this will finally give him the help he needs to live a productive, normal and happy  life.  The downside is that his financial situation is very precarious.  His unemployment benefits ran out months ago, he was declined disability after his eye surgery and is behind in all his bills.  He’s facing eviction, repossession of his car, suspension of his utilities, cell and internet service.  He’s tried to get state assistance but has been denied since he has no dependents under 18 that he cares for – it’s just him.  Over the course of the past 6-9 months he's been to numerous financial assistance agencies, started going to church & career counseling to no avail.  He was able to get food stamps and health insurance through the state but no cash assistance.  He sells his plasma a few times a week as income for smaller bills, gas and incidentals.  John and I have helped him the best we could but my biggest fear is if this continues much longer he will end up homeless or worse.

My goal is to raise money to pay for his rent, car, utilities and living expenses so he can be admitted to the hospital for treatment without losing everything he has.  I know he can't be healed overnight and have no idea how long something like this will take so I hope to raise enough to sustain him 3-6 months while he seeks permanent treatment.
 
I do not know how I would cope in his situation and am grateful for the blessings I have each and every day.

David is a good person, has never succumb to any vices, but his life has gone steadily downhill for the past 15 months since losing his job despite his best efforts to overcome his situation.

Please consider donating if at all possible and if you cannot please pray for him and that God’s plan for happiness in his life will unfold soon. 

Thanks for for reading his story, feel free to share with others to help achieve the goal.  

Blessing,
Darlene