Help Robert Get Back on the Road - Update

**Update: The car is legal. Keeping it on the road is the next chapter.**

If you already gave to this campaign — you did that. The car is registered. The insurance is active. I am legally on the road for the first time in months. That happened because of you.

But here's what I didn't fully understand when I wrote the first update: getting the car on the road and keeping it there are two different things.

The policy I purchased has a $166.50 down payment (covered, thank you) and then **five recurring payments of $203.70 each**. The first one is due **before September 17** — five days from now. Auto-pay is set, but the buffer from the initial raise ($82) doesn't come close to covering it. And the car needs gas to actually get me to my HCMC appointments, the food shelf, and any work I can find.

So I'm being honest with you about where I am: I need help covering this next payment and keeping gas in the tank.

**The new number:** $203.70 for insurance due Sep 17, plus gas to keep the car useful. That's the whole ask — no expansion, no scope creep. Just the reality of what "back on the road" actually costs in the first month.

Now — the gratitude. That part hasn't changed. It's even bigger now.

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**We hit the goal. $400 raised against a $300 ask.** I need you to know exactly what that means and where every dollar is going.

What I needed: approximately $318 total — $166.50 for auto insurance down payment (The General, minimum MN coverage, autopay required) and $151.44 for Minnesota vehicle registration/tabs. That's covered. Fully. The car is legal.

The extra $82 isn't sitting idle — it's going toward the next insurance payment and gas, so I'm not back at zero the moment the next bill lands. A buffer, not a bailout. That's the whole update on the money.

Now let me tell you what your giving did to my heart.

Amy Provost — you were the very first donor, back when this was just a lonely link in the void. That $50 was a vote of confidence when I had none left in myself.

Lynda Flores — your $25 landed right when I was wondering if anyone would even see this. You both already know what this means to me.

Roseanna Jensen — I know you personally. I know your own road hasn't been easy. For you to drop $25 on my broken situation... I'm actually crying typing this. You didn't have to. You chose to. That $25 isn't just money. It's someone I know saying "I see you, Robert, and you're worth helping." That hits different. Thank you.

To the two Anonymous donors — $20 and $15 — whoever you are, you snuck in while I was probably staring at my phone wondering if I should delete this whole thing out of embarrassment. You didn't let me. You said "no, keep going." That kind of quiet love is holy to me. Thank you for giving without needing your name on it.

Jay Schmuhl — bro, $25 out of nowhere. You're one of those quiet supporters who just shows up when it counts. Thank you for seeing this and deciding to step in. It means more than you know.

Ashley Paulson — girl. $20 from you? Listen. We both know that in Ashley World, you'd have survived that business fire with nothing but a clipboard and a glare. You'd have already done the Kingdom Audit on my whole life and handed me a color-coded exit strategy. But instead of auditing me, you decided to just... help me. No performance review. No quarterly goals. Just pure heart. Thank you. I know what that costs and I know what it means.

Anthony Anthony D Halverson — $20, and wow. This is a blast from our very young days. We go way back. Way, way back. Life took us in different directions, but here you are, decades later, showing up while I'm in the recovery phase after a complete collapse. That takes a big heart. Thank you for seeing a person who needs help and deciding to step in anyway. It means the world to me. Truly.

Michelle Douglas — $20 from you, and I'm so grateful. You saw this and decided to be part of it. Thank you for stepping into my mess with me. It matters more than you know.

Sunrose Shrestha — $50. Fifty. Dollars. I don't even know what to say. That is a massive gift. That is not spare change. That is someone choosing to sacrifice so I can move forward. You just bought me a huge piece of my freedom. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Paul Achman — $30, and I don't think you know how much timing matters in a moment like this. Thank you for showing up.

Les Butler — $100. I had to sit with that one for a minute. That single gift is a third of this whole goal. I don't have words big enough for what that did — for my nervous system, for my week, for my belief that people show up. Thank you.

And then there's Karla Carter — my best friend since high school. She sent $50 today too, but not through here. Straight to my Cash App, on the side, no fanfare. That's Karla. Decades of friendship, and she still shows up the exact same way she always has — quietly, and without needing anyone to see it. Combined with what's here, that's $450 of people deciding I was worth showing up for this week. Thank you, Karla. You know.

Every single one of you is rebuilding something in me that I thought was permanently broken — the belief that it's okay to need people. That asking doesn't make me a failure. That I'm still someone worth showing up for.

I'm tearing up right now because I didn't expect to feel this. I expected shame. I expected silence. Instead I'm feeling seen.

**So here's where I am now:** The car is legal. You did that. But the first recurring insurance payment lands September 17, and the gas gauge is real. If you can help with that — even $5, even $10 — it keeps the momentum going. If you already gave and can't give again, please know you're already the reason I'm not stuck in the garage right now. And if you can share this, that helps too.

With a shaking heart, actual tears, and more gratitude than I can hold,

Robert