I am Bryan Neal Dukes, a disabled American Veteran from Lake City, Florida. I served four years in the US Air Force. I was stationed near San Francisco, CA, stateside with a tour in Saudi Arabia when I was 19. After an honorable discharge, I earned a bachelor's degree in Health Care Administration. I worked for the VA Medical System and my fellow veterans for 10 years. At age 42, I began to suffer from depression and eventually was diagnosed with PTSD by the VA. Shortly thereafter, I was diagnosed with the lung disease Sarcoidosis, which can be fatal. Then ulcerative colitis. The treatments for these ailments caused bone degeneration, and I require a double hip replacement. All of this really, really got in my way. I was rated disabled by the VA and found myself no longer able to work. I receive a helpful housing subsidy and $1,400 USD a month. I do not qualify for any other assistance. This is a fraction of what I had worked so hard in the military and in college to earn. That is life. I struggled finding a way to feel useful for many years. It was pretty dark. I have this intensive drive to create, to contribute. I had no career, little resources. I found myself suffering from this PTSD that I still don't quite understand and nothing to occupy my time. For the purpose of being honest, finding those who can identify with my situation and meeting my fundraising goal, I feel it relevant to share this. Over the course of three years, I tried to commit suicide twice, which were very serious incidents as I spent months in the hospital following both events. That scary place is behind me after much help and many years of therapy from the VA. During this time, I found woodworking. I have the most wonderful father. I know he wanted to help save my life. He gifted a shed to me, which I have converted into a workshop. I get up every morning as if I am going to work. I create and build anything I think is interesting. My goal is to raise funds to purchase power tools that I would use to further my passion.

Table Saw/ large unclaimed area.

My very cluttered assembly desk

Wood lathe station. I have been turning wood for about four months. My aunt and uncle gifted this lathe to me. I have a wonderful family. It is an entry level lathe but exactly what I need right now. I hope to upgrade as my skills increase.

I exiled all of my darling, precious wood to a sheltered area I intended to use for the purpose of specially storing wood.

There is much to be done.

It's a lot like remodeling a home. I get to custom build everything and reorganize. The sentence began with an "I" for a reason. It is my passion but a lot of work that I look forward to. You contribution will allow me to grow. Keeps me very busy and really happy. One day I hope to be able to sell some of my builds to help fund my woodworking passion.

These are the machines that I have plans to purchase:

The most important thing is a dust collection system. I lost quite a bit of lung capacity to Sarcoidosis, a lung disease caused by breathing toxic fumes from burn pits while serving overseas in the Air Force. As one might imagine, every tool I use creates saw dust. I have only recently been forced to take the dust issue seriously. It just cannot be good for me to breathe it in all day. A decent system for my small shop would be around $200-$300.

14" Band Saw $800 or 10" $425

Planer Jointer/thickness planer combo $400

12" Drill Press $250

Router Table $150

Several upgrades to existing handheld power tools that I have outgrown.

I have, and continue to, purchase what I can, when I can. It's tough, but I LOVE my life now! I am absolutely excited to be alive and go out to my shop to woodwork. This is such a drastic change in my outlook that I once thought it impossible. My goal is to buy some relatively expensive tools that I cannot afford so that I can continue my work. I am not sure if this platform makes it possible, but I would be more than happy to receive any woodworking-related equipment donations so that I do not need cash support. My thanks to you for reading my story. If you do not choose to help me, then I really do hope you are able to find someone that you identify with that is needing a little help getting there.