Help Charles Write His Story of Resilience
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Hello, I'm Charles.
I have never done anything like this before, so forgive me if I don't explain this right.
- It's very hard to describe my situation. It's a big, long story with lots of hows and whys, but suffice it to say that I went through some trauma in 2019 and 2020. I lost my mother after being her caregiver for her last five years. I had just graduated before that in 2016 with my master's degree. I thought I was on a fast track to success. I had worked very hard and followed my dreams. Now, I know COVID did a number on everyone, but it really sent me through the wringer. The isolation after an already stressful last couple of years was too much. I broke. Then I was evicted from my apartment during the period when I thought no one could be evicted. There I was during lockdown, homeless and living in my car. I still tried to take the bull by the horns. I was DoorDashing and Instacarting and filming things like house fires and car wrecks to sell to news channels. I was doing everything I could. And it wasn't enough. Eventually, my car broke down and I lost it. Actually, it got totaled when the tire blew out on the highway, which only added more stress. I ended up crash landing in Huber Heights with a friend and Enon with another friend. I worked at the pub there for a while. I don't know if it was just my stressful life or what, but my blood pressure was out of control. The neuropathy in my legs had gotten unbearable. It just seemed to be one thing after another. I had another break and had to spend some time in the hospital. From there, I became a science experiment for my doctors to test all kinds of medications. Needless to say, I wasn't doing well. I have a bag of prescriptions. Every couple of months, I seem to have to go into the hospital for either my heart or my mental health. I've been trying to get disability for the last 2 years. At this point, the lawyer just tells me that it's always in for reconsideration. I have fallen on hard times. I really wanted to work in the field I went to school for, which is anthropology. But I'm afraid my long periods of not working in the field have made it hard to even begin to look for a job. Before I lost everything, I was a digital creator. I basically had a studio where I practiced music. I used to be pretty good at filming; I filmed a lot of weddings. I've also done a lot of artistic things that I've put up on YouTube.
- So here it is, the point emerges: I want to write a book. I want it to be about my struggles and battling homelessness, my experience with addiction, and the very inhospitable environment that this country is.
- I'm not totally sure how everything will go, but I want the title to be Maximum Education Minimum Wage.
- In order to do this, I'm going to need a new computer to write on and some funds to keep me alive so that I can write it.
- I mean, I literally need so much. My shoes are falling apart, I don't have a driver's license. I just had some weird loan from like 10 years ago take me to court and now I owe them $2,000. Basically, I'm at my wits' end. I want to crawl up out of this hole. But I must know my limit, and right now I am at a point that I need to be carried. I need help or there will just be no way out. I put $4,500. Hopefully, that'll keep me alive and fund this book that I want to write. And it will show my happy ending that I will be living. Again, I've never done anything like this, so sorry about that long drawn-out story that I'm not even sure got the point across, but I hope it did.
Organizer
Charles Webb
Organizer
Dayton, OH