Raising funds to cover my and my disabled spouse's expenses while I look for a new job.

Hello! My name is Joseph Bullock. Last year, the company I worked for was bought out, and soon after I found myself unemployed that March. Since then, I've been able to support my household, consisting of myself, my wonderful partner, and our two cats by driving for Uber Eats. That was only ever intended to be a temporary solution until I found a new job that could support the four of us.

However, nearly a year later, and I'm still barely making enough to cover our expenses each month (Around 3.1k). In fact, I've started to fall behind.

To be frank, I have been driving 7 days a week, often 9+ hours a day, to make the amount required to cover our expenses, and that's mainly during the morning to evening. That leaves me with very limited time to do much else throughout the day, like applying for new jobs. On top of all that, that limited time is even more limited, as I have to carve out space to spend with my loved ones and on my hobbies, like creating art. All the things that make life worth living. This schedule has been the norm for 8 months now.

I have applied to many jobs over the months, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. Additionally, there are times where I have to decide between making an interview or making the money needed to afford dinner. I try to reschedule interviews when that arises, but not every employer is receptive to that. I've attempted to drive at late night to leave the day available, but that severely cut into my sleep, which is not safe when you are behind the wheel for so many hours a day

If this campaign is successful, these funds will help us in two ways

1) I can focus more on getting a new job that can support us in the long term. Devoting more time to applications and having more energy at interviews to really wow the recruiters. I could even take some certification classes that would open up new avenues of employment. I've been interested in security work or caregiver positions for a while now, but have been barred from even entry level positions due to lacking credentials.

2) I can finally stop working 7 days a week. A big issue for the last month or two has been my dwindling energy. There have been plenty of times where I get home after ubering at night and just immediately fall asleep until the morning, or I get home after the morning shift and nap until the afternoon or evening shift. I have tried to power through this, but I either fall asleep at my desk or have trouble staying awake during the night shift. The truth is, I've been burning the candle at both ends for far longer than is safe. By having actual days for rest, I can recover before I land my next job and really hit the ground running. Additionally, I could devote effort to repairing some of the relationships that have taken a hit during this time. Like visiting nearby family I haven't seen in months.

Even if our campaign falls short of the total goal, which would let me completely halt Ubering while I focus all my energy into a job hunt, even making enough to just take one day off a week would be helpful. Even if that would still be working 7 days a week, I can recover much better at home than I could out driving.

Now, of course I have several job applications under review, I even have a few interviews lined up soon! If I land a job and stabilize financially BEFORE the funds run out, anything leftover would be used to get our life back on track in other ways. Examples of this would be: getting maintenance done on our car that we haven't been able to afford, settling some medical debt we've acquired over the years, or similar things. All depending on how much is leftover. After that, if there's anything remaining, I'd like to donate it to someone in a similar situation.

Thank you very much for your time, and every donation will be heard as a call of support. This last year has proven to me that I am so much stronger than I ever thought, but I still need help. I've looked for that help where and when I could, but now I turn here. All I want is the create a good life for me and my partner. One where we can spend more time together, go out and spend money on dates again. and be financially stable enough to eventually start a family.

This GoFundMe would be a major step towards all of that.