Hi, my name is Sam Dixon and I am 70 years old. It is likely that soon my son and I will be evicted from our apartment. I am asking for help with living expenses so that we can make it through this hardship.

Several unfortunate events hit at the same time. In mid-2024, I went through a divorce. My wonderful son and I decided to move away from the memories in that scenic Virginia mountain town, where I was born, and relocate to the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. I would look for editorial positions, and my son, who is 23, would enroll at a school to finish college. Another reason for moving there is I wanted to be close to the spirit of my father. A decorated World War II veteran with two Bronze Stars for combat valor and two Purple Hearts for battlefield injuries, he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery near D.C.

It seemed like a good plan. But soon after we moved, the government laid off 200,000 federal employees to cut costs. That flooded the D.C. area with job-seekers. Despite my forty years of professional editing experience, it has been difficult at age 70 to compete for jobs against all of those 40-year-olds with master’s degrees and doctorates. I have applied to over a hundred vacancies. Not one to give up, I will carry on with sending out resumes so that I can find work to regain self-sufficiency.

Along with being diabetic, I have a bad back from blowing out a lumbar disc a few years ago. That means I am unfit for lifting heavy boxes and couldn’t get retail trade jobs such as stocking shelves at a grocery store.

As I am nearly broke and unemployed right now, if we are evicted I will lose the joy of living with my son. He would need to go live far away with his stepfather and his mother, who has already remarried. Not being with my son would be my deepest pain of all. I love him very much.

Faced with this crisis, my son has dropped out of college and found a seasonal part-time job, but his sacrifice on its own won’t cover our bills.

I’ve had good jobs in my career, including overseas in Taiwan, the Philippines and Thailand, as well as here in my home country of the United States. Many great experiences can come from seeing other countries firsthand.

While continuing to search for employment, I am also typing 10 hours a day to polish the final chapters of a novel. As this manuscript involved 10,000 pages of research and scribbled notes, and several years of detailed organizing, from what I have learned about the process perhaps I could teach a college class on how to write a book. This would also provide income. But first, I just need a little more time to focus and finish the book.

I would be grateful for your support if you could donate to my fundraiser. All donations will be used to pay our rent, utilities, groceries and other household expenses so that my son and I can keep living together.

Thank you for viewing my GoFundMe story and pictures. If you are unable to donate, please share my GoFundMe link with your network so it can reach more people. If you do provide a donation, I promise to remember that kindness and someday pay it forward.

Sam