Help Parker and Dad Get a Car

My daughter and I are in desperate need of a vehicle. Any kind. Used, donated, it doesn’t matter as long as we can use it to transport groceries and get ourselves to doctor appointments. I had a terrible divorce in 2019 that resulted in me losing my home as I couldn’t afford it on my own after the divorce and I needed to sell it to clear our debt. I was granted full custody of my daughter, who is on the spectrum, and have been struggling to get us ahead of anything since.

We moved to Ellensburg to get an apartment through HUD housing with the help of HopeSource and the Yakima Housing Authority. The plan was to enroll my daughter in school and go back to work so I could get us back on our feet. The school district here had two programs for specialized classes. One uses tablets to teach the kids how to communicate and the other is for the kids not capable of that. My daughter was to be placed in the one with the tablets, so at the time I used my last tax return to buy her an iPad Mini 6, which I really couldn’t afford, to be honest, and she was enrolled. It turned out that she wasn’t taking direction well enough to keep up in that program, so they stuck her in the other one. I was assured she would still get tablet learning until she caught on and then would be placed back in the other class. What actually happened was my daughter was too active for that class; most of her classmates were in wheelchairs or needed help getting around, and when she wouldn’t just sit with the other kids and be quiet, they started restraining her in an attempt to make her listen. In her IEP, restraining her was not allowed. They did it anyway and they left bruises on her from her armpit to her knee on one side of her body. I absolutely complained and that resulted in them hiring a third-party investigator who tried to make everything our fault. When that didn’t work, they sent me copies of her IEP stating they weren’t properly signed and that they needed my signature. On the new IEP, they checked the box that allowed them to restrain her. I didn’t sign it and still have both the original and altered copies. It was a shameful tactic on the school district's part. I absolutely complained about them doing that and it resulted in them not placing my daughter anywhere and instead sending me forms to fill out so she could be homeschooled. I didn’t have a choice. They wouldn’t take her anymore and she refuses to this day to go near a school because of what they did. When she attended, I would get daily progress reports that always said she was doing great. That is until the day they restrained her. On that day, they all of a sudden claimed she was a biter. I still have all those progress papers. What actually happened was they restrained her for no good reason and in an attempt, I believe, to stop them, she was biting the teachers. Mind you, she couldn’t fight back with her hands or legs as they were being restrained by three full-grown adults who should have known better. This absolutely traumatized my daughter, hence why she refuses to go near a school, even after hours just to play on the outside toys, which was something we used to do a lot. So I was forced into homeschooling her, which meant I couldn’t go to work. We have no family or outside help here. I signed up with the DDA but we only qualify for 18 hours a month of provider care, which isn’t enough for me to get a job. I’ve asked the churches around us but they don’t help single men. One I asked right after they bought my female neighbor a car. When I asked, they said they don’t have resources for that kind of thing. I tried to get a lawyer to do something about what happened at the school but can’t find one that will take the case without a substantial amount of money upfront. Money we don’t have.

Right after all this, my 1999 Ford 150 blew its oil pump on the freeway heading to an annual doctor’s appointment for my daughter. We lost our only vehicle that day. That was just over 19 months ago. Since then, we have to walk daily to buy food and supplies. My daughter won’t eat solid foods, so she has a specialized diet that is expensive and I can barely afford to keep it up. I won’t mention how poor my diet is as I cannot afford to feed myself some days. I’m not complaining about that; those days I just consider fasting days. If you live in Ellensburg, you have seen us walking back and forth to the stores daily. I’m the guy that used to be pushing an oversized baby jogger loaded with groceries and a kid. That broke. I am currently borrowing a neighbor’s old wheelchair and using backpacks to transport our groceries. I’m 44 and in good shape, but having to do this daily for as long as we have has taken a toll on my body. I’m breaking down now with issues of my own. The nearest store to us is 1.3 miles away and the cheapest with the best deals, Fred Meyer, is 2.4 miles away. We walk 6 or more miles a day to get what we need. Some days I’ll do it twice just so I can take a day off to heal. I have to. I got approved for FAFSA and am trying to get myself back into school online to get a BA to help us, but that will take time. I’m looking/asking for any help I can get to fund a vehicle for us or even an old golf cart as those can be licensed for in-town use here. If you have a dollar that you could spare, I assure you it will go to exactly what I am pleading for help with. A vehicle. I will gladly make videos showing that that is what the money went to if we can gain any support. We have a YouTube channel called “ParkersSpectrum” I will use to update any help we may receive. I’m making this because I don’t know what else to do. I am a Christian and I pray nightly, but the world is a mess and I can see with my own eyes that GOD is busy with much bigger problems right now and I get it. My legs are still working so my need isn’t as great as someone whose country is being bombed. A car won’t just help with groceries as my daughter and I could DoorDash or deliver things for people with it and start earning and paying taxes again. I’ve always worked and earned everything we have, but I’ve sold everything I can and have no other options next to making a sign and standing on a street corner. I would actually consider doing that myself if I had someone to watch my daughter while I did it, but I don’t and Parker is too active to do that. It would be miserable for her and I put her first for everything. The baby jogger and wheelchair use is just so she doesn’t have to put all those miles on her legs daily so she has energy to play. None of this is her fault. I’m sure if you’ve made it this far, you’re wondering where her mom is. Her mom puts herself first and doesn’t pay child support. I signed up for the minimum $50 a month but her mom is currently fighting paying even that. Her mom drives a fully paid off 2025 Toyota Camry SE, acquired two acres in Lake Stevens, Washington, and just purchased a $200k prefabbed home for her property. She tells the state she is broke and hides her assets in her other children’s names or through her benefactor. Her benefactor is a registered offender who is happy to pay for anything she wants just to have a woman who is willing to be around him. The whole situation is a mess and I have zero power to change anything right now. I feel like I’ve been put on pause and I don’t know how to unpause it. I can share, and show, more details to anyone who has questions. I’m not looking to get rich or be taken care of by this. I just really need help and I don’t know what else to do. If you can help, THANK YOU! If you can’t, then thank you for your time and for listening. That is more than I can get from most people, including my family. I hope you are all well and doing better than we are. GOD Bless America.