To Family and Friends,

It’s my 70th birthday today and I never in a lifetime thought that I would be posting a gofundme. We are, however, in a desperate state. It has been a heavily harsh year for me with several major events that have been hard to recover from. It seems that almost everything that could go wrong has.

We will be losing our apartment at the end February as the rent will double. We are also without a car. My parents precious Mazda needs a new transmission that costs more than the value of the car. I sadly said goodbye to it today.

I am coming out of retirement at 70 to go back to work full time to lift us out of poverty. Over the last month I have been passionately applying to 40+ positions. I’ve have had numerous interviews but no job offer. As we’ve not had a car, I Uber to interviews, which of course is neither sustainable nor affordable.

My working full time would allow us to keep our apartment but I have no car to get to work. Our apartment has been ideal for Steffen as it’s on the top floor and is private. It’s works for Steffen and he’s comfortable here. He is greatly improved but needs to get out and talk to people. There is a fitness center here that he wants to try but it’s not free. I feel useless that we can’t pay the $25 a month fee.

If I can’t get good job, we could be homeless in March. Family has helped with some expenses but everyone is struggling.

I have applied to numerous public housings but the waitlist is 2-3 years. If we end up homeless there is no one that can take us in and we could be in a shelter which would be horrific for Steffen.

So there you have it, our situation is dire and complex. I have a terrific resume and never thought that I would not even find a part time seasonal job. It’s that harsh out there.

It is with great humiliation that I write this. I am primarily asking for enough funds to buy a decent used car, anything that reliably runs and will last awhile.

With gratitude,

Sharon and Steffen