Apartment Emergency

Hi! My name is Monica, and I have a serious housing emergency. I've got until September 8th to do a major clean out of my apartment, remove my broken fridge and excess furniture, and restore it to livable condition. Then I have to move, either to a studio apartment here in the same complex, if I'm lucky; or find some other place that only costs $900 or less a month. And isn't a bedroom in someone's house. I'm an extreme introvert, have agoraphobia and severe social anxiety. I'm permanently disabled due to those conditions. I get scared to answer my door, and even my phone. I only go out of the apartment with a trusted friend once or twice a month, and can't handle being around people very long without panic attacks. I live my life online. Having a roommate isn't an option. With the last one I had, I had to lock myself in my room to have hysterics a couple of times because he was driving me crazy. Having hysterics is Not Fun. I'd rather never do that again.

The years of Covid and deteriorating health have worked a number on me. I can't carry more than 10 lbs since a heart attack 11 years ago, so that affected how much garbage I can get out of here, and how much cleaning I can do. Major depression and panic attacks didn't help. I'm on a fixed income (Social Security), so haven't been able to hire anyone to come regularly and help out. No savings. I live from SS check to check. Things have piled up, to put it mildly. More truthfully, it's bad enough to make someone faint. Which makes me feel so ashamed, but I have to be honest here. The situation is desperate.

Aside from packing up junk, I have to hire a hauling company to remove things in several smaller loads. I can only get so many bags filled before running out of room to fill more. And I can't pay for them to come and do everything in one go. The entry hallway needs to be cleared so the fridge and excess furniture can be hauled out. Right now there's not enough room. (I had a roommate who had to go into assisted living, and I couldn't get help to get all of his stuff out.) After rent, bills, meds, insurance, groceries, cat supplies, and sundries, I only have about $400-$500 a month left to deal wih anything else, so it'd take me at least a couple of months to pay for this. Then there's first, last and deposit for moving, and I'll need to pay to get things moved, too. And probably packed. Right now I have $355 left for this month. My next check comes on the 3rd of September. That's a bit late.

I'm stuck. Without more money, I worry I can't do it, and will end up homeless. The manager and owners have been extraordinarily patient, but they simply can't overlook this any more. I don't blame them; they have to take care of their property. I'm amazed that they're even considering letting me move into one of their studios, frankly. But a studio would be much easier to handle, and maybe I can hire someone cheap to regularly lug garbage for me. I do NOT want things to get this bad again! This is too scary. Yes, you'd think I could have managed to get that into my brain in the last four years or so, but panic and depression drive me into a state where all I want to do is curl up in a ball and freak out, despite Xanax and other meds.

I could go on, but I babble anyway, and I think you get the idea. I need help. Please. And thank you so very much for reading. Anything will help.