Hi, my name is Paisley also known as Kim. I'm raising funds for dental and medical care, and car repair among other pressing expenses (rent, gas, lights, phone...). Like so many at this time, my little family has taken some hard hits financially. Times are tough. I am trying to be tougher but even the toughest need a little help sometimes. Sometimes things go sideways and at right now nothing is going right. My partner Tony and I just got out of an abusive, predatory slumlord situation, against which I have no legal recourse. Financially this move has just killed us. Legal Aide declined to take my case. We had no working stove for over a year, which resulted in added expenses we already could not afford and hardship just trying to buy and make food. My partner Tony is chronically ill with frequently debilitating gastrointestinal health issues that require a restricted diet, already a challenge foodwise. He has had to go to the emergency room at least twice this year. Then I was reduced to using a hot plate, a George Foreman grill and a rice cooker to prepare meals before the rice cooker died. The rice cooker died because of the faulty electrical wiring in our apartment. The place fried it. Among other things it also fried two steam cleaners, a fabric steamer, and two hair dryers before I stopped being able to afford replacing anything anymore. I use steam to clean because of allergies to chemicals in regular cleaning products. The last thing it killed my was my back massage belt in the middle of my using it when my back was sore from moving.

We are completely broke now and deep in a debt spiral after doing everything in our power to get out of that situation. We were feeling cusred under those circumstances. Ironically, our former landlord actually called and apologize because he believes that he is now being punished by God for what he did to us. But that doedn't help us now. The wolves and the law of diminishing returns are now scratching at our door. I'm sick with worry and beside myself with anxiety. My partner, who I mentioned is chronically ill, was laid off during COVID, just after we had taken out a car loan. We both have also been adversely affected by mold in our former inhumane living conditions. The mold exacerbated his GI health issues. Even our little dog's health has been affected by it. She's developed allergies and lost most of her hair. She too is in need of vet care that we also can't currently afford, although thankfully she seems to be improving since our move.

I work full time in a management position. My partner Tony has been working for Uber and operating an Ebay store but now our car decided to break down reducing our income even further and we can't pay to fix it. I also sell on various platforms including Etsy, Ebay, Poshmark, Red Bubble, Mercari and Ebay. However internet sales have fallen drastically . I hustle. I hustle really hard and I have constantly been seeking better paying employment. The job market is like a ghost town. I am stretched so thin I am at my breaking point. I have applied for assistance at every possible agency. There is no help available to anyone right now. None of the agencies that normally help people in hardship situations have funds or have been able to help. I have filled out applications for assistance so long and demanding and complicated only to not beat the deadline or to just to be denied. I'm a veteran. It doesn't matter. There is no help even for veterans. Everything is different now. Everything has changed. I have no insurance. There is no point. I often can't afford the copays. I desperately need dental care. I applied for Harris Health (Medicaid) twice only to have my application kicked back. So the third time I had an agency help me fill out the application so I don't miss anything, in May. It was sent back with a request for my partner's paystubs. He Ubers and Uber doesn't provide pay stubs. So I promptly provided earnings statements. I walked it in and personally deposited it in the dropbox. Nothing, I heard nothing back from them. After several calls I finally got through to speak to someone to inquire about the status of our application. I was told that Uber weekly earnings statements were insufficient, that they needed monthly earnings statements AND that application forms could not be typed in. They had to be filled in by hand. Oh, and now my documents were outdated, expired, too old. So I now need to send new, up to date documents. I haven't been able to get a better job even though I'm constantly seeking. I have applied to dozens if not over more than a hundred jobs on Indeed, Linkedin, Indeed, Glassdoor, and Zip Recruiter. I have also applied in person. When I say the job market is a ghost town I mean that many of the jobs posted on these sites aren't real and competition is fierce for the real ones. The company I work for seems to be stuck in the 50's. I've worked there nine years and still don't earn a living wage, Others who have worked there for over twenty years make little more than I do. I walk around with resumes and my own job applications.

I'm old and I'm tired and my teeth are falling out. I have anxiety, PTSD, and migraines and I can't afford my medications. Did I mention my teeth are falling out? Every tooth in my head is cracked and I am in constant pain. But I mask and I smile and I'm gracious and cordial amd personable. I put on a face and I soldier on. I'm super resourceful and pretty tech savvy however as I mentioned all the resources for help have dried up. No local agencies have any funds at this time. My clothing is becoming ragged, nothing I invest in works. A brand new name brand wireless internet printer I bought to help me earn money doesn't detect internet and isn't detected by my same name brand computer even when it is hardwired to it. The computer company forced an update on said computer, of a new operating system that is not compatible with the computer. I lost control of my computer. I lost precious momentos in the form of photos and files that were irrecoverably lost in the recovery process. And my computer hasn't performed the same since. Both my computer and my printer are virtually useless to me. Another loss that I can't afford to replace and that has hurt us financially and personally. We're hurting. I know there are so many others in this boat with us. We're good people. We'll never stop trying and working and hoping and praying for a break from the bad breaks. We'll keep believing something's gotta give, sometime, somewhere. Maybe we'll win the lottery or a miracle will happen but we're circling the drain. If you would like to help no amount is too small. Any and all contributions are deeply appreciated.