Help Lee Copenhaver and his son keep their home.

Hello,

My name is Lee Copenhaver. I have never done a GoFundMe campaign before. I find myself in a difficult financial situation at the moment due to being put on a month long unpaid leave of absence by my employer and I am asking for your help today.

I am a single father to a growing 13 year old boy on a single income. I have him 50% of the week. I provide for him as best I can. Like all teenage boys, my son is growing and has a huge appetite. It is a challenge to keep him fed and clothed at times because of this.

I don't lead an extravagant lifestyle. I prefer to spend my time at home with my son. I only leave home to go to work, run errands, or take my son to or from places such as school, doctor appointments, or visitation exchanges.

The reason I am asking for your help today is because like many other people I have had a hard time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. I have had several car problems relating to the cooling system, tires and wheel alignment. It took me awhile, but I did get them fixed but at great expense.

Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of my hardships.

I work as a bus driver and I'm required to pass a D.O.T. physical annually. Due to existing health conditions, I did not initially pass my physical this year. Instead of putting me on light duty or restricted work details, my employer decided to put me on an unpaid leave of absence from work for an entire month.

Like many Americans, I live paycheck to paycheck and any kind of disruption in pay can, and usually does, have serious consequences. This unpaid leave of absence has put me in severe financial distress.

During this time, I have done what ever I could to scrape together the money needed to survive, I have borrowed money from individuals, and also taken out loans. I have even fallen victim to a scam while trying to take out a online loan. One of my bank accounts is now in the negative due to this scammer's fraudulent deposit and the bank's bounced check fee that they applied to my account because of the fraudulent deposit. I have talked to the bank and they refused to waive the fee. I will be closing all my accounts with this bank once my account if out of the negative. They seem to care more about their fees than they do about their customers.

I am back at work now, but I am behind on all my monthly living expenses and my current paychecks are being used to pay for the insurance expenses and union dues that were not paid while I was on the leave of absence from work. Basically, I'm working but not seeing any income from my work. That being said, my rent is due on October 01, 2021 and I don't have the money for it. My rent is considered late at the end of the 3rd day of the month. After the 3rd, they charge me a late fee of $35.00 and an additional charge of $4.00 per day for up to 4 days. If I still haven't paid by the end of those 4 days, they will evict me. I don't even have the money to move or store my belongings right now. So if I were evicted, my son and I would lose everything we have. So rent is my most pressing expense at the moment that I need help with. My second biggest concern is my car payment. If it is reprocessed, I wont have a way to get to and from work or or anywhere else. There is no public transportation where I live.

I have broken down my monthly expenses below:

Rent $900.00

(Late fees for rent if paid after 10-03-2021) $35.00 + $4.00 per day late

Car payment (2 months) $421.10

Car insurance $179.24

Renters insurance $32.16

Cell phone $59.00

Electricity(2 months) $195.33

Internet(2 months) $168.93

Water(includes a $5.25 late fee) $21.40

Current Medical expenses $78.79

(This list does not include food or gas expenses)

Total: $2,106.95

I don't like being in the position of having to ask for help like this, but I no longer have a choice. It is either this, or losing everything my son and I have and becoming homeless.

So I am asking for your help in raising the $2,106.95 I need to get me out of the financial hole I find myself in. If I obtain or exceed this goal and have money left over after catching up on my finances, I plan to use any excess funds to buy my son clothes for the upcoming winter months. If you can't help with a donation, then please share this with your friends. Maybe they would be able to help.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for whatever help you can provide at this time. Even if that help is just sharing this GoFundMe campaign so that others may help if you can't at this time.