Help from eviction and bill shut offs.

I’ve increased my goal because the more I can give my landlord the better my goal was barely enough to cover 1 month and some bills I didn’t think I get even $500 So I didn’t ask for what I really needed because you know I’m me. If you don’t know me it’s really, really hard for me to ask for help because of some past family trauma.

Hi my name is Katie and it absolutely kills me to reach out like this and ask for help. I lost my job because of COVID last summer. This July there was an issue with my unemployment and I had to file a new claim. EDD owes me almost 2 and a half months of pay and I have spent at least 20 hours calling and on hold. Because I was given a severance when I lost my job and reported it they can't count it toward my weekly allotment. The Company doesn't separate severance from wages so EDD has to have an auditor go in and separate the two. I called last week and no one has even looked at it yet. That means it will be at least 2-3 more weeks before I see any money. Even though they owe me from an extension they will not pay me until this issue is resolved. I have exhausted all my options and have been job hunting, I'm hoping to have secured a new job in the next few weeks. I'm behind in my rent and my landlord is angry. I don't know how much longer I can hold him off. I've explained the EDD issue to him but he doesn't really care. I'm also at the point where essential services are going to be shut off if I don't pay something. I applied for both rental and utilities assistance 2 months ago and have heard nothing.

I have an art business that was doing well until about 6 months ago when sales dropped to almost nothing. It wasn't enough to live off of but it helped. I just released a new collection hoping one or two paintings would sell to cover these expenses but nothing has sold. My last collection sold out. I don't think many people are seeing it. My engagement, likes and followers have drastically dropped the last 6 months. I believe this is due to Instagram wanting you to pay for ads and the move towards video. Which is fine but I can't afford ads right now.

This money would go to pay my landlord 2 months rent to at least hold him off and to pay some essential bills. That will at least give me enough time to secure a new job hopefully and by then unemployment may have gone through. It has been a frustrating and demoralizing experience. Crying on the phone to EDD saying I need to pay rent and there is nothing they can do to pay me before this issue is corrected. I've been living off food stamps so I have food but I need to secure my housing and utilities. I need my phone and internet for jobs as well as electricity.

Honestly any little bit will help. I need something to give my landlord and pay a few bills ASAP. Things will start to get shut off the end of the week. You can also buy art from me if there was something you wanted and haven't bought yet. Everything I have available is on my website www.katiekaapcke.com. If you can't help financially if you could share this I would really appreciate it. Sharing would help a lot as well. Thanks so much for taking the time out of your day to read this. I appreciate you. This money will appease my landlord for the time being and allow me to continue my job hunt because I have to have my phone, internet and electricity. It would mean everything. I'm so incredibly stressed out I'm making myself ill. I've never been this scared before. I wouldn't ask for help if it wasn't a desperate situation. I'm not the only one this kind of thing has happened to, so many are dealing with similar issues with EDD. I don't know what else to do and have run out of options so I'm asking for help.

Thank you for sharing my fundraiser with family and friends through social media, email, or text: http://www.gofundme.com/f/help-from-eviction-and-bill-shut-offs

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