I am trying to raise funds to afford to be able to stay in California, because I was recently told that the house I have been renting for over the last 10 years is getting sold and I have less than 2 months to find somewhere else to live with my wife, 2 dogs, and a cat that also thinks he's a dog. Not even a week later, I was laid off at my job because of lack of work to be done. Oh, and you want to know the kicker, both the landlord and the boss were my father, who for whatever reason is determined to see that my wife & I are homeless by March 1st. No I was not living with my dad, I was renting a house that he owned. He then agreed to not take me to court if I was wasn't able to pay Februarys rent to try and make sure I could pay a first and last month rent somewhere else. Less than 5 days later, I had a 3 day pay or quit notice on my door. 24 hours after that, he sent me an email letting me know I was also being laid off. So now I am trying to find somewhere that is going to be ok with me moving in without a current job and I'm freaking out a bit. I am filling out job applications everyday and packing everything we own, that can't be sold, into a storage unit, but still have absolutely no clue where Natasha and I are going to be sleeping next month and I feel like a failure as a husband for it.

Unfortunately, I have not been very wise with my finances and credit card usage through this diving journey, and to avoid charging the people I am helping, I have maxed out all of my cards to afford gear, gas, and etc. This has been making it to where Natasha and I are living paycheck to paycheck because of high interest and minimum payments and have absolutely no extra money for a deposit and the extra cost that the next place's rent will be. Especially now that I will be having to search for a new job in the middle of it. I will be pulling out the very little bit of retirement I had saved up, roughly $5,000, so I don't have cards go unpaid or my truck repossessed but I know that won't last long with no additional income coming in.

I am a treasure hunter/scuba diver that travels around and goes diving in the lakes and rivers of California, trying to help people get their lost valuables back, and cleaning up all the trash I come across as well! I thoroughly believe you can't just go for the treasure; you have to get the trash as well!

I do not charge people for my services, even the ones where I drive 4 hours away to help. I tell people tips are always appreciated and accepted but never required or expected. I truly am just happy to help if I can! I let them know that anytime my head goes underwater, I'm having a great time, so if I can help them out as well, then it's a win/win!

I wish I did not have to ask for help, but I refuse to not at least try for my wife. I do not regret my decision to max out my cards to do this because we have gotten to meet and help so many amazing people and have been able to get hundreds of pounds of trash out of our water ways. However, now we very much need your help to not only greatly advance our ability to help more people but also to keep my diving adventures in California. At this time, the only options Natasha and I can come close to affording are all out of state. If we were able to clear our credit card debt, or even make a huge dent, we would be able to easily afford to rent something nearby. I am also looking for sponsors for my channel and hoping to grow the channel even further this year with some new content!

The dream is to grow my YouTube Channel and Facebook Page to a point where I can make enough money from my social media platforms to be able to help people full time and never ask for a dime in return! So if you are not able to donate, and would still like to help get me to my goal, please feel free to subscribe and follow on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok! Just look up Merman Mike and you should find me! I also have a Venmo and Patreon if you'd prefer to donate that way. All links can be found at mermanmike.com.

I will also, in efforts to help make a dent in our debt, be selling a lot of the treasures I have been able to find over the years. So far anything that I couldn't return to it's rightful owner, I have kept on display in what I call the treasure room. Well, it's all going to have to go into storage now so I figured I would see how much of it I could sell and give other people a chance to get some authentic Merman Mike treasure! I will not only be doing a giant garage sale, but also listing items on eBay and Facebook so keep on the lookout if you were looking for a good deal on some cheap river glasses, fishing lures, paddle board paddles, and much more!

Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart, to all those who help! Whether it's a financial donation or clicking subscribe and coming along with me for the journey, either one is extremely appreciated!