Help Jeri Cherkas Overcome Her Crisis

Hello, I'm Jeri Cherkas. I've never had to use Gofundme in the past. I was a school bus driver for 11 years before becoming disabled in March of 2022. I have severe osteoarthritis with Si joint problems and bone marrow edema. In the next couple of months I will be looking at another surgery. I am divorced. My 2 youngest kids help me as much as they can.

Please help with whatever you can spare so that I can find another vehicle. I don't know what else to do. I wish I didn't have to go on a public forum and beg for money. I've never done it before and don't enjoy doing it now. This is what happened:

I have a 39 year old daughter with mental health issues. She just had a birthday & I was taking her on a 2 day getaway to my sisters so she could do something special. We were returning home Saturday morning June 29th, when she became extremely upset, and when I was driving on Hwy 71, between Park Rapids and Wadena on the 2 lane highway, she punched me in the face. My whole head turned to the left along with the wheel. I had several cars coming at me and over corrected to the right because of the shock of everything. I started to fishtail and was trying to keep the car from the oncoming traffic. The car ended up in a somewhat deep ditch. We both were physically ok. Emotionally it has been very traumatic. I have been told that it is a miracle that the car didn't roll. And that no other vehicles were involved. My car did not make it. It was towed and brought to a collision center. They said it would cost many thousands of dollars to fix it. If I had full coverage insurance they would total it. It has several issues with the mechanics under the hood, undercarriage and frame. Engine frame is bent, Radiator core support bent back, front bumper demolished, front tire was detached from the wheel hub the rear driver tire wasn't holding air. It isn't driveable. I only had liability on my car because of the limited income that I have with SSDI. I simply couldn't afford full coverage insurance. It is a 2006 Lexus ES330 and I had no loan on it.

I'm grateful to not have been injured and that no other vehicles were involved. Now I am without a vehicle. I'm trying to raise funds to be able to purchase a safe vehicle. I have been struggling with back issues for the last 2 years. I have had several procedures and a surgery. I have been hoping that I can get back to working part time and was hoping to do that this summer. With no vehicle I will not be able to do that.

I have at least 2 physical therapy appointments every week along with all my other doctor appointments for my back & neck. I would be so very grateful for any financial support you may be able to give to help me to replace my vehicle.

I was just trying to do something nice for my oldest daughter and take her out to get away for a couple days. Now, my life is totally upended. I was doing what I could to help someone that needed to have a change of scenery.