Hi, my name is Lance. I’m writing this because I’ve hit a wall I can’t climb over on my own. This past year has been a series of collapses—the biggest being a heart attack that left me physically and financially depleted. I’ve been out of work for months, and now I am facing eviction in Salt Lake City. I don't have a family safety net. It is just me and my senior dog, Annie.

With winter here and a court date set, my situation has become an emergency. I cannot survive a Utah winter on the streets, especially while recovering from heart issues. My only path forward is to relocate to Las Vegas, where the climate is survivable and I can begin the work of rebuilding my life and finding a job. Because of my health, I’m in a difficult spot. I’m selling nearly everything I own, but I don’t have the physical strength to move heavy furniture or load a truck alone. I have no one to help me lift the essentials. I’m also navigating the reality that an eviction will make finding a new place nearly impossible without having a larger deposit ready to show a private landlord.

I’m trying to raise funds to cover the bare essentials of this survival move: a U-Haul rental with insurance, gas to get to Nevada, and hiring a couple of hours of labor to help me load what’s left of my life into a storage unit. My car is my lifeline for work, and I need to get it registered and insured in Nevada immediately so I can get to interviews without the risk of being towed or fined. Annie is my world. She needs her senior wellness shots and grooming to stay healthy, and I need to secure a safe place for her to stay while I am out at job interviews. Because of my credit and the eviction, I need to be able to offer a private landlord a double deposit or a few months upfront just to get a roof over our heads.

I am not sitting still. I am doing every bit of work I am physically capable of to make this happen, but the gap is too wide for me to bridge alone. If you can donate, you are quite literally helping me and Annie find a safe harbor. If you can’t, please consider sharing this link. It means more than I can say. Thank you for reading, and for helping me get back on my feet. — Lance & Annie