Hello, viewers, my name is Jonathan Norris. I'm a prior-service U.S. Marine, and a research economist in Kansas.

I create this funding request at the end of a long string of attempts to halt my and my family's downward spiral into hard times, and I'm left with little recourse but to call upon the generosity of strangers and humbly ask for help making ends meet.

The Situation:

On April 12, my father, Raymond Norris (pictured), passed away unexpectedly of a pulmonary embolism. He was a great man and a tremendous role model, and the world is a grayer place without him in it. I encourage you to visit his memorial page here, https://www.johnsoncountychapel.com/obituaries/raymond-norris.

He lived frugally to the extent he could, and it allowed him to dedicate himself to assisting me and my mother where he could, though it has resulted in a whirlwind of costs with his passing and little potential for recovery and transition.

He had no life insurance or death insurance, and the end-of-life bills with the funeral home wiped out very nearly every bit of savings I had at the time. His estate, which I'm thankful to inherit, has very little value in either liquidity or assets.

He lived with my mother, his ex-wife, and as unbelievable as that sounds, they lived amicably in this way for the past 11 years to pool money and resources. My father always did his best to financially support her regardless of any personal differences - he would always say, "She'll always be the mother of my son."

Both of them, however, had very little money and income and struggled to accumulate any savings, as on a limited single income they struggled against the home mortgage and reduced costs wherever they could. Thus, his was the only working vehicle between them; a barely-functional pickup truck, and as my mother has now lost him as a support, she finds herself similarly struggling to make ends meet without savings and falling further behind on home expenses. The home is in her name, and what assets of my dad's I've inherited are few and unable to provide a financial reprieve by selling them off. With bills piling up, we've reached out to our extended family for assistance, thus far to no avail.

The final straw that has led to me creating this request has been my own car having a catastrophic failure. It was last Thursday, June 6th, that on my way home from work in Wichita, a near three-hour commute, that the coolant hose in my engine ruptured due to overheating. Stuck two-and-a-half hours from home, I had the vehicle towed all the way back to an auto repair shop near my apartment near Kansas City. The shop replaced the hose and flange, replaced the coolant, and sent me on my way. Even on the 1-mile drive home, the car began to overheat. I brought it back to the shop, and earlier today, June 10th, they have explained to me that they are unable to determine the cause of the overheating and would need to disassemble the engine to search for faults.

Put simply, I cannot afford to fix my car after already sinking $1,900 into having it towed and the coolant hose replaced, and my job depends on being able to make the three-hour commute to Wichita, an impossible task in a car that overheats in only a few miles.

Speaking with my boss today, he told me that I need to arrange a means of traveling to Wichita each week to have an in-office presence, an arrangement we've had for around a year and a half and which I fully cover expenses of fuel, mileage, and lodging.

I am now left with no savings and am at the bottom of my own checking account, with my income too low to gain any ground back considering my rent costs and student loan repayment. Assets sales are not enough to make up the difference and I see no relief in sight, and now that I have neither the car or enough money to pay for the overnight lodging and transport, or a replacement vehicle, I fear that I will soon lose my job on top of it.

The Request

I humbly ask for only as much as you can spare to help me get my feet back under me so I can have reliable transportation and do my job, give me enough financial leeway to help with some of the ongoing transition costs following my father's passing, and not sink myself further into debt in the process.

Thank you for reading and for your consideration,

All my best wishes,

Semper Fidelis,

Jonathan