Emergency funds Rent and phone bill

Hi.  My name is Mike George.  I am currently out of work and have $7 to my name.  I know, that sounds pathetic, but it's true.  Bad things happen to good people.  I am not beating myself up over it.  Life gets better.  It always does...  I am hopeful that things will be ok, soon...

I am a volunteer admin at The Christian Left Facebook page. I help assist with removing trolls from the FB page on my free time.  

I want to personally thank the owners and members of The Christian Left for your help!  Thank You! <3  

Your help gives me new hope and it helps me prioritize and focus my concentrations on my job hunt.  I am very economical about money received.  All of it will go to the basics: rent and utilities, cell phone bill, public transportation for interviews and the new job once I get it, resume printing and the fees taken out by gofundme to run the campaign and a bit more just for basic necessities.

More specifically:

My goal is $1900.  Here is the breakdown:

2 months rent and utilities.  $1300

2 months cell phone bill: $100

2 months bus and train fare to and from job interviews  and to and from a new job, (all those bus rides and train rides do add up quickly), printing fees for more resumes, and a few bucks for basic life necessities like a haircut, deodorant, and household sundries like toilet paper, etc. $275

I thought about it and decided to include $100 for food, in case I  run low on food stamps.  It happens...

$125 to cover the Gofundme withdrawl fees.

 I am an idealist, and the idealist part of me thinks that maybe I can get hired in the next 3 weeks, but that is probably not realistic thinking.  I was originally going to ask for half the ammount in my goal, but it is unrealistic, in case I do not get hired in the next 3 weeks time.

A trusted friend of mine at The Christian Left, one of the top people in TCL organization, suggested  I plan accordingly, be more realistic, and increase/double my goal to cover two months worth of bills to land a new job.  I thought about it and I agreed, to play it safe.

I am an out of work sales guy/customer service representative.  My last job was really good until the call center closed down and was moved out of state.  The only job they had for me was in debt collections.  I was horrible at it, to be honest.  You have to have a certain kind of mindset to do that kind of work, and I failed at it.

 Also, the management for collections was brutal.  Most people working the job were extremely unhappy for good reasons.  It wasn't just me.  All I will say is, we were pressured to not take lunches or breaks, and there was a lot of harassment from management, and the job was making me feel mentally ill.  Just being honest.  I stayed as long as possible but I had to quit to save my sanity.

 I was doing job interviews while still working there, but the weekly work schedule kept changing and it was difficult to keep interview appointments.  And everyone at work was continually frustrated because management set monthly collection goals too high, on purpose, so no one could earn their monthly bonuses, so it was basically a $12 per hour job with almost constant harassment and it was hard on all the workers.  

No one there is happy with that job, because the pressure is always on everyone daily to make the goal, which is impossible to reach.  It's crazy.  We all felt trapped. I witnessed coworkers have nervous breakdowns and cry at their desks all day long. Seriously..  It was depressing to experience all that. I broke free to find a better job.

I initially saved up a months worth of rent for August, and went on job interviews.  I had a few good prospects, and I took a job in environmental activism.  That turned to be a scam job, unfortunately.  Bad pay. 70 hour work week for 40 hours minimum wage pay, no pay at all for the additional 30 hours worked.  The extra 30 hours worked after the 40 hours was non paid hours devoted to before work and after work meetings  that you were required to attend without pay. Another job where they expect you to work numerous hours weekly without pay.  And workers had to wait 3 or more weeks for their first paychecks, and word is on the job boards, some of the payroll checks ended up bouncing.  Ouch,  And I couldn't memorize the script due to a learning disability.  So I had to bail on that job...

And to be honest, I have had problems in the recent past with other jobs I had.  

I realized I have been and I still am suffering from depression, for a few years now, and I am seeking counseling..  One benefit to being poor in Illinois is you get free healthcare and food stamps.  So, I am going to see a counseler to work on my depression, and to learn how to use coping skills to deal with work related stress.  

I used to be able to handle workplace stress just fine.   Most all of my life, it was not an issue.  But I am not so good at it nowadays, over the last few years.  I do sincerely want to learn coping skills and improve my life, I am striving to make that happen.  This time is different because I am self aware of my problems, and I am activiely seeking to make long lasting, permanent  improvements.  And that probably means therapy.  Mental illness can effect anybody.  My dad was a psychologist, so I do not think of it as taboo or something that shouldn't be addressed.  I am open minded to getting counseling to improve my mental health and my quality of life.

I also suffer from PTSD, so I get panic attacks, and that does not bode well for me in workplaces that are super high stress and with the workplace harassment I was dealing with, it was too much to deal with.  I was getting daily panic attacks at the debt collections job and I fell into a downward spiral depression.  I feel better now that I do not have to deal with the daily panic attacks from my old job.  That is a relief...

I did apply for unemployment insurance, but I was rejected on a technicality.  I don't want to get into the details of all that..

So anyways, I have food stamps, I have food, I am getting counseling to deal with my mental health issues, to become more healthy, mentally, and I have a roof over my head, a computer and a phone for job hunting, but like I said, I am down to my last $7 and I am in need of emergency assistance.  

To repeat myself, yes, I have been in situations like this before, but I didn't seek counseling, and I was always struggling to deal with life's pressures.  I am now working on seeking counseling and I have positive hopes for my future, to learn how to deal with life stress more positively..  I am emotionally stable.  I can hold down a new job.  I just need the counseling to learn how to cope when life gets weird...  Maybe I can work it all out with therapy, or maybe I need meds.  I don't know, but whatever works is fine with me.  

All I ask is, (and I know 99% of people will be kind),  please dont get on my case and give me a hard time about my struggles over the last few years.  It's easy to judge, it's better to be kind.  I appreciate your positivity and moral support, and not judging me.  Thank you.  

I have job interviews lined up for this week  and I am setting up more job interviews, and I hope to be hired as soon as possible.   

I have also been applying at grocery store chains, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, lowe's, Walgreens, CVS and dozens of other retail chain stores, and also local independently owned stores as well.

I am 53 years old, so I am kind of stuck between being overqualified for the retail associate jobs, being middle aged,  and underqualified for the corporate Sales jobs, due to not having a college degree, so my best luck is probably a Customer Service job at a call center, but I might get lucky and get a retail associate or retail management or sales gig, possibly..  I really do enjoy helping people, and I actually enjoy working at customer service orientated call centers, and I live in Chicago, so if you have any good job leads, I am mmore than happy to get some good job leads from people in the know...

My friends and my family don't have any cash I can borrow.  I have been making improvements on my credit score and I was paying off old debt, so my credit is improved upon but it still needs more work, so I  do not currently have credit to rely on. II don't like asking for help, but I don't have a choice.  

If you can help me, I sincerely appreciate your help.  

I am also going to work on being more social, and join a local church, and a few social clubs to network with new people.  There is a UCC church I want to start attending. I am a life long follower of Jesus, I consider Christianity to be liberal minded, and love is greater than hope and faith, and doing unto others what you would want others to do unto you.  Loving your neighbor.  Basic Jesus teachings.  Jesus is our friend. <3

Also, I am on the autistic spectrum and I tend to isolate myself, especially during rough economic patches like this, and when I get super stressed out.  I am also going to work on that, to reach out more and make new friends and build new social connections, to reach out to others more, and to try and help others as well.

Artistically, I am a singer song writer, a musician, a multi instrumentalist.  I sing, play guitar and bass, keyboards, drums and more...  Music is my passion, along with liberal politics and following Jesus.

If you can help with a $10 or $20 donation, or more, if you can afford it, I greatly appreciate your help.  Thank you, and God Bless.  If you want to be my FB friend, please send me a friend request.  Thanks again! 

Mike