I find myself humbly once again in need of the charity of others. In a country that has increasingly become hostile to the poor, I find myself on the precipice of financial ruin. Without this support, I may very well be evicted from my home.

In the past year, I had been diagnosed with Severe Depression by my Primary Care doctor. She helped me get setup with therapy in late october last year to start a path for recovery. In this time, I was working remotely for a call center named Sedgwick. Within Sedgwick, I assisted my callers with new and existing Short Term Disability and FMLA claims; getting people time out from work for their medical and family emergencies. The work was challenging, and the pay was abysmal. Yet I kept working because I truthfully believed I was making a difference in people's lives. Especially in one of the most challenging periods of thier lives.

December came and went, and before long it was Febuary; a year after being hired. My yearly raise was continuously delayed again and again, with the only word i was ever recieving being "Its not guaranteed". Then March rolled around and my manager approached me with a new opportunity. She had me meet with another manager, who would become my manager if I accepted the position. They promised me it was a step up in the company; that I was being chosen from amongst my peers for my impecible service. The reality was anything but.

There was no change in title. No change in my pay. I wouldnt see that aformentioned yearly raise until the end of March. A token 50 cents. And then there was the work itself. I went from supporting people in challenging periods of their life to managing Workers Comp, General Liability, Auto, and Property claims. In short, I was relegated to a role in insurance. I was fielding calls on behalf of other insurance companies for new claims, with people often asking me questions I could not possibly answer because I wasnt their insurer. I was no longer helping people. I just a cog in a insurance machine.

The stress of it wore on me greatly. I thought about quitting. My therapist even noticed my sharp decline over the course of March. She encouraged me to talk with people within my company about it and talk I did. I had a monthly meeting with a pretty far up executive as part of career mentoring. I expressed with her my frustrations with the work; the things I could and couldnt control of it. She promised me big changes were coming; that a VP who had recently 'resigned' didnt resign, but was rather fired and replaced by someone who was trying to fix the very things I was complaining about internally in this new role I had taken. Unfortunately, I couldnt last. I crashed out in early April and went on my own Short Term Disability (or STD for short).

In this time, I was only getting 70% of my earnings. Making a paycheck that was already being streched thing go even thiner. In late may, faced with substantial delays in my pay, I had to empty out the savings account I had built for the past year just to make ends meet. My travel plans for the year had become forefit, and even the prospect of moving when my lease expires in September was becoming distant fantasies. When June rolled around, my leave was due to expire. I had some hesitancy about returning, but decided I had to try, rather than avoid. I worked with my therapist and my PCP both to seek an extension and workplace restrictions that would see me RTW part time on 6/23. the paperwork for which was due on 6/13. I submitted my papers on 6/12, but wouldnt learn until 6/18 that it had all been denied. This meant that from 6/3 (the first day not covered under my leave) onward, I wasnt going to be paid.

When a STD is denied, the dates that you miss become actionable offenses. The kind that effect your record. The kind that an employer can look at and say "youve missed too much work. youre fired." However, youre also given 30 days from the denial date to fix these matters before theyre actionable. Knowing this, I attempted to reach my manager to discuss my options. I wrote in an email that I was afraid id have no choice but to resign, and asked her to call or email me back. The next day, I had a email informing me I was terminated.

It is now the end of June. I didnt know until the end here that I wouldnt get any kind of pay for the entire month. I have started the process for getting unemployment, but this has often taken a month or more to resolve in the state of Missouri. The last of my funds are drying up, and I have no savings account left to pay my rent that is due on 7/1. after 7/5, they will charge me a late fee, and on 7/11, ill be given notice for eviction despite never missing a payment. The blow to my credit will forever ruin my life, and I may even become homeless. And that is why I write now to humbly beg for your financial support. Every donation will go towards Rent, bills, and only strictly necessary purchases like groceries.