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Help May and Husband Rebuild After Loss

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After 21 years in our apartment (since 2004), our apartment complex has denied renewal leaving us 2 months to pack our entire lives and move. We have no savings, no credit cards, no credit, and no way to pay to move so we're asking for help.

My name is May and I'm a 48 year old disabled small business owner. I create handcrafted jewelry as PhoenixFire Designs because my progressive and degenerative autoimmune diseases prevent me from holding down a "day" job. I have systemic lupus erythematosus (often just called "lupus"), rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's, Raynaud's, Migraines, and IBS.

The last few years have been extremely challenging and now we're just at rock bottom. In 2020, my husband got laid off from his job of 22 years. He's only been able to find a contract position (no health insurance, no paid time off) making $15,000/year less than he used to. In January 2023, I lost my mom to kidney failure brought on by her own lupus. In August 2023, my husband lost his mother to cancer and he's now caring for his 84 year old widowed father. My lupus has been getting much worse the past year, with swelling in my hands, severe joint pain, extreme fatigue and overall makes basic everyday life very hard.

We've been struggling and trying so damned hard but can't get our feet back under us. We've gotten behind on bills and credit cards and we've exhausted all of our savings. My 1999 Pontaic car isn't currently running. And our 2012 GMC has no working a/c in Florida (it's $1k to fix so we just haven't done it.) And now, we are facing homelessness in 2 months if we can't raise money to afford to move.

Things we will need to pay for:
  • Moving supplies
  • Moving truck
  • Paying people to help carry furniture (I physically can't)
  • Application fees for apartments
  • First / last / security deposit
  • Deposits for services (depending on where we move, we will likely change power companies for example)

We are estimating it will likely be somewhere around $8k. Which is almost 4 months of income for us. It's just impossible without assistance.

I know how much everyone is struggling. I wouldn't ask if it weren't literally life-and-death serious. I can't live in my (broken) car with my 3 cats. I need a home in order to have a place to make jewelry to help bring in income. I am terrified we won't even get approved anywhere, but I can't even try to apply without a place to start. So please, anything helps. Thank you so much for your help.
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    Organizer

    May Turner
    Organizer
    Tampa, FL

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