Hey there. My name is Angel Mendoza. This is my story and why I am here asking for help.

Over the last few years, since 2023, I’ve struggled financially to take care of myself and my little family. I’ve struggled with health problems and mental health problems. In late 2023, my job of almost 5 years abruptly shut down with zero notice. One day they just said, “Here’s your last check. This is your last day. We are shutting down.” Thankfully, I had some money saved, but we quickly burned through it all paying bills and groceries while I searched for another job. About 3 months later, I was blessed to land a job in property maintenance as a maintenance technician for a great property management company. Everything was going great and things were looking up, but after just over a year with the company, I began experiencing severe stomach pains. I couldn’t hold down my food. I would vomit everything, and it really triggered strong feelings of anxiety and fear. I had no idea what was going on with my body. Everything felt like it was falling apart. I had to leave my job in order to pursue medical answers. It took me over 5 months to finally get the answers I was looking for after seeing doctor after doctor, all with no answers and just guesses. I lost 20 pounds in just under a month. Finally, I saw a gastroenterologist who performed a colonoscopy and endoscopy to see what was going on internally. Turns out I had developed a hiatal hernia. It’s when the gastrointestinal sphincter (opening of the stomach) becomes lodged up in between the diaphragm muscle, causing my stomach to remain constantly open, allowing stomach acid to enter my esophagus, causing pain and severe vomiting whenever I would eat or drink anything. The specialist didn’t want to perform surgery due to the complexity and risk to the surrounding vital organs. Medication has helped me control my symptoms immensely, but I have to take them for the rest of my life.

So, I was jobless with no financial help from unemployment, SNAP, or anything. However, the medication helped enough to work again, so I focused full-time on my own business simply because no jobs would hire me. I struggled so bad to find a job again. To make matters worse, less than a year later, my appendix decided it was time to call it a day. I ended up in the emergency room, received emergency surgery to remove my appendix, and spent about 4 days in the hospital recovering. Needless to say, it was a very eventful year for me.

Now, to the whole reason I am here asking for help. On top of all those fantastic events, now my little 1999 Chevrolet S10 is on its deathbed. I’ve had it since 2018. It’s been reliable and strong for many years. It’s been through the roughest of rough and was still chugging along supporting my little family. Unfortunately, I am at an impasse. I can’t afford the repairs it will cost to bring my little old truck back to life, and buying a new one is also out of reach. My truck is my livelihood. My profession depends on it. If I don’t have a truck, I can’t provide for my family. I just barely started working full-time again. I’m not one to ask for help. In fact, I’ve always been one to help others. I just don’t like to put people in an awkward position or in a bad situation. So, I’ve all my life done things on my own for the most part. As reluctant as I am to ask for help, I do indeed need help. Please, if you can help me with whatever you can give, I would deeply, deeply appreciate it. It’s time I asked for help in my time of need as I’ve done so for so many people. If you can give from the goodness of your heart, God has blessed me so much over the years with supportive friends and family. May God bless you for donating whatever you can. Thank you so much for your support!