Help us keep our home of 25 years and a hand up

Hi, my name is Charles Mason, and I am fundraising for my family. The last several years have not been kind to us, and I have found myself jobless since June, in bankruptcy, with no insurance, many health issues, a home that is in disrepair, and financially broken. If that is not enough, the courts request that my bankruptcy be dismissed since I can no longer make the payments (Chapter 13). I need help, I need a job, I need health insurance, I need money, and I need hope.

This year has been quite overwhelming and suffocating for me. What started as a great beginning to the year has spiraled out of control. While trying to keep a stiff upper lip and smile to disguise the pain, I have tried desperately to stay in front of the issues before me on my own; however, when I think things are finally going my way, something comes to kick me back down the mountain. Without naming names and trying to give details without offending anyone, I will attempt to explain to you what’s going on over here.

A little background about when this started for me. I have been fighting anxiety, depression, confidence, and body issues since 2003. I had lost my way and have been trying to rebuild the life my first wife took from me by divorcing (something I never wanted until I found out why she was divorcing me). Everything I held dear was being taken from me, and I thought my life was over then. A lot of counseling and support from my father, mother, faith and family saved me. From August ’03 to August ’05, I was walking on eggshells.

There is so much that happened from ’03 to today, and I don’t want to overwhelm you (also because it still makes me very emotional), so I am fast-forwarding to the last 12 months. An almost unbelievable number of circumstances have contributed to why and where I am today. And some of you are aware of those issues too.

Focusing just on the past 12 months, this is a summary of the year.

• December ’21 – I had been trying to bring my wife home since 2020. We had some significant issues that caused us to separate and divorce in 2021. Although many people told me to walk away and that it wasn’t worth it, I could not do that for many reasons. Our troubles started in the fall of 2019, but once I could see the forest through the trees and understood my part of the issues, I knew that she was worth it, and I needed her as much, if not more, than she needed me.

• January – I received a “Dear John” text message from my wife while she was out of the country saying that she was done and wanted no more to do with me. Although she did offer to sit down with me when she returned, that never happened, and by the end of the month, I was a mess. Financially, I was still hurting, but things were looking up. I am part of a startup technology company, and we have hired someone to fundraise. Although I had been making about 40K less a year in salary for the last five years, I was optimistic that my current job and the startup would eventually help me get back to where I was career and compensation-wise.

• February – My wife blocked me, and I heard nothing from her during most of the month. Although I was hurting emotionally, I chose to focus on myself and continue the weight loss and healing that my body was screaming for. On the last day of the month, tragedy struck.

• March – on the 1st, I heard from a friend that one of my wife’s friends was murdered (they ruled it a suicide, but if you knew the story, it doesn’t add up) here in Forsyth County. When I found out, I sent her a simple text, not knowing if she would even get it, saying I heard about your friend; I gave her my condolences and said if there were anything I could do, I would be here for her. Coincidentally, she had unblocked me just four hours earlier and did receive my text. We spoke, and she finally agreed to sit with me and talk.

• April - The best of my recollection, April came and went somewhat uneventfully.

• May – I came down with COVID and was incredibly sick for three weeks. During the third week, the wound care team at the hospital decided to culture the diabetic ulcer on my left foot (I lost my left big toe in ’18 due to a diabetic ulcer) because it wasn’t healing as fast as they were hoping it would. I began going to wound care after spending a week in the hospital in September of ’21 with Rhabdomyolysis, which almost killed me. When the culture returned, they found two bacterial infections in my foot, one was MRSA. I then began a ten-week, every-day, twice-a-day regimen of IV antibiotics at the hospital and another two months of oral antibiotics. I hadn’t had any medical or healthcare insurance for three years, and the medical bills began piling up and suffocating me. I notified my employer of the situation. And two weeks later, I was laid off.

• June – I was laid off on June 13th, but I was optimistic on two fronts. The fundraiser was promising us the world and that they were making headway, and I had quite a few job opportunities I had applied for and was hopeful that I would land one quickly. To date, I am still unemployed. My employer short-paid my final paycheck, but I had had enough of them treating me like 1099 since I was a W-2. They had me punch a time clock and deduct it anytime they felt I did not work or forgot to clock in. They even deducted for two days when I was in the hospital (and working).

• July – Still looking for a job, but receiving unemployment payments, I had a little money coming in. My wife told me that she wanted to return home after three years of trying to prove and show her how much I loved and cared for her. The fundraisers said we would be funded by the 19th of August.

• August – Still looking for a job. No prospects. Money is getting very tight. All my cash reserves are now gone. August 19th came and went, and no funds for our new company.

• September – Still looking for a job. No prospects. UI payments stopped at the end of the month. I had no money coming in at all. Thank the lord for my wife because she stepped up and assisted me in paying the essential bills to keep us afloat. For those who don’t know, she is from out of the country, and her job pays her $13.50/hr. She stepped up for me when so many others wouldn’t or couldn’t. However, now the bankruptcy court is asking for my bankruptcy to be dismissed, which means I would lose my house and car, and that is all the money I have left in the world because of the equity I had in them. I had to list my house for sale to dig myself out of the hole I found myself in. The thought was that if I sold my house, there would be enough to pay off my bankruptcy and mortgage, and I would walk away with some money. So I began selling anything I had in the house worth a dollar to keep the lights on.

• October - Still looking for a job. No prospects. I had no money coming in at all. The fundraisers we had hired were a disaster, and now we were back to fundraising for ourselves. We decided to sell my wife’s car, but we didn’t get much money for it since it was a bit old. We got a contract on our house, but it was terminated just a few days later because the buyer didn’t think they could sell their house in another state fast enough to make it to the closing of ours. We have had many lowball offers since then, but nothing is acceptable. My house does need work which has also scared several buyers away. My optimism was turning to desperation.

• November - Still looking for a job. No prospects. I had no money coming in at all. I struggled to pay the utilities for the last several months. I am falling behind on everything else, including the mortgage, and now they are demanding my case be dismissed. We got another housing contract with a reasonable offer, and I accepted. Unfortunately, the buyers backed out this week, and I am back to square one. I finally started making some headway with the job search, and as of last week, I had four opportunities I was feeling good about. However, as of the month's end, all those opportunities were given to other candidates. Out of options, money and energy, I shut down and struggled to hold my head up. My foot has taken a wrong turn, and I am concerned that it is infected again. Please pray for a good outcome for the culture they took this week. Unfortunately, they and I are not optimistic, and I may have to go back on IV antibiotics again.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but I hope you can see how I have been trying to lift myself out of my hole. I have also realized that no one gets through life without help, which is why I am so grateful for your offers of support, kindness, and generosity. I have felt very alone in this world, but many of you have made me see that I have friends and do not have to do things alone. Several of you have known about some of what I have mentioned above, and some of those people have stepped up and helped me with their advice and financial/emotional support. You know who you are, and we cannot thank you enough. Also, whoever called the police for me this week, I seriously want to thank you for doing that. Their timing was impeccable.

So today is another day. It's hard to breathe, but I am calm today, thanks to many of you. I am still very fragile, but I know there are people out there that care about me and are willing to step up to help in any way they can. You have no idea how much this means to me. Recently someone close to me told me very viciously that I needed to stop playing the victim. I AM NOT A VICTIM!!! I also know that I cannot do this alone anymore. The last five years have not been kind to me, but I have always been a fighter. You all have given me and shown me that I have a reason to keep fighting, and with your and God’s help, I can make it through this too. I hope this answers some questions about me and whether or not I am okay. I am a broken man. I was living by the generosity of others and was humbled and embarrassed at the same time. How can you help? Well, I am still not sure you can. But if you’d like to speak to me privately, I’d be happy to share my story and more details to see if you might do anything for my wife and me. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being a friend when I thought I had none.