My name is Eric. This isn't easy for me to say because I'm not someone who asks for help. For the last 4 years I'm the one that helps. Mom, with her terrible back and you know, generally being 80 years old.. my sister, Sally with MS, they need my help on a daily basis. Enough so that I don't have the time to put into a regularly scheduled 40-hour job. I need to be available at random times, and schedule flexibility is hard to find in any job. I had found it in the gig economy, and for the last 4 years, I've been delivering groceries. It's not odd for me to work more than 40 hours a week; in fact, 60 is probably my average. But I can do it on such a flexible schedule, it makes that possible. I pretty much work every single day. But I have the time to help my family.

I was working a couple weeks ago, like I have been almost every day, for the last 4 years. In the middle of a delivery for a customer, my phone chimes, and I look down, and it says I've been deactivated. Out of the blue, no warning. They can do that to you because you're not an actual employee of theirs. You're a contract worker, self-employed. When they accepted me to work 50 months ago, they performed a background check. I have nothing in my past that I try to hide. I was a drug addict, and about 8 years ago, I was headed for prison or most likely death. And I made some horrible decisions, as most of you know, and I was arrested. I then spent almost 4 years away from home and away from my family and friends. As anyone can imagine, it was difficult. But it ended up being what saved my life and allowed me the opportunity and the time to better myself in every way. I left prison a new person, and for the last four plus years, I've been working hard, helping with my family, and just keeping my head down and putting the effort in.

Back to the deactivation: The company I deliver for said that because of my record, they'd have to terminate our contract. There was no one I could speak to. There was no opportunity for me to speak for myself and tell my story. Four years.. 50 months... 8000+ deliveries without incident, and that apparently means nothing to the biggest employer in America. The job didn't pay great, but actually enjoyed it, and it allowed me to squeak by financially. But I lived day to day. Not paycheck to paycheck; it was day-to-day because you got paid after each delivery. So when this happened I was literally staring at the bottom of my bank account, as I still am.

Since starting this GoFundMe, a few amazing people have helped out. And I could not be more thankful! I was able to pay a couple bills and put some food in the fridge. I'm on the job hunt, and while I haven't found anything yet I've had some encouraging experiences. I'm also doing an AI workshop online to try to give myself a little more in terms of what I can offer an employer.

I'm still looking at the next few weeks with question marks and concerns. And my car is still needing to be worked on but that will have to be a back-burner problem, I imagine. Luckily, I still have access to Mom's car and she does not need it very often. She lives on her social security and does not have the kind of money to help me while I attempt to find some sort of job I can do while still being available for her and my sister.

I myself have helped people on here before with similar stories. So I thought, why not? Absolutely any help would be immensely appreciated. Any funds would go to bills and to living and to getting me by as I find a new job. I don't know what else I can do. Thank you for taking the time to read.