Emergency fund: Transportation for my kid and work

Hello community,

I was left carless after a person failed to yield and hit me. This car is my main method of transportation to go to work and to drive my kid to school. I am humbly asking for your support to help me in navigating this situation and getting back on my feet.

This is what happened:

My car was recently totaled in an accident where I was deemed not at fault. Airbags deployed in the accident, so it was very scary to think anyone would have been hurt. I am grateful my daughter wasn’t in the car. We have never been involved in accidents prior to this.

Based on witness statements, my insurance has decided I was not at fault as well; however, the other party's insurance is denying liability and claims it could take up to 3 months to get the police report to review, so I have to start from scratch.

To further complicate the situation, I am a hard worker who was recently laid off from a job as a recruiter where I was working for 7 years. I have a daughter enrolled in a charter school, with no school bus, and I was only able to return to work a couple of weeks before the accident. I have taken on two jobs to compensate for the loss on income, and although things are starting to look up, the loss of transportation could be a devastating blow to my progress. Since the damage resulted in a total loss, my insurance will cover what I still owe on the car, but that still leaves me fully responsible for the cost of a new vehicle. The rental car reimbursement I have been given by insurance may not last until I can save enough for a down payment. It would take me several months of work to save for it (if I can make it to work). We are barely making ends meet, and given my families individual circumstances public transportation is not a viable option.

I tend to not ask for help, but the situation for me is becoming increasingly hard to navigate and feels very overwhelming. Any one of these problems in of itself would not be a problem to overcome, but the frequency of events has left me overwhelmed. If anyone can help us we would be forever grateful for your generosity.