Caregiver Recovery Fund
Donation protected
UPDATE July 17, 2019:
The 3-day eviction notice was just delivered. I have until about 3PM on Friday to pay the remaining $800 of the rent or I will have to move out or be evicted. I have no place to go so I will be homeless. I have also not raised enough to cover movers or storage, so I will also lose most of my belongings. My health is not good enough for me to move much.
In order for the funds to arrive by Friday morning so I can pay the remains rent, donations will need to be made before midnight tonight. I do have some funds coming in the regular mail but they will not arrive in time.
Please read my story and help if you can.
UPDATE July 11, 2019:
On May 30, 2019, I had a heart attack. It put me into supraventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation. I was in intensive care for two days. I am now in recovery from the heart attack and also dealing with new medications. These have left me almost completely disabled. I have now been advised by my cardiologist to "take it easy".
I originally started this campaign to help me start over after my mother's death. Unfortunately, this latest event transforms my quest to restart my life into a desperate attempt just to survive.
I am now having to try and raise funds again so I can avoid homelessness while I recover and apply for disability. I am concerned that I would not survive becoming homeless.
I am applying for SSDI, but my exact heart condition has to be determined and backed up by tests. I am having those tests on July 18, after which the process should speed up.
The funds raised so far have paid off most of the debts remaining from before my mother passed away and enabled me to avoid homelessness. But now I need just a little more help.
Once again, thank you to those of you who have donated. Your generous help has been greatly appreciated. If you can help by donating or sharing this campaign, it would be a huge assistance.
Where this all started:
Hi, my name is Jeff. I’m 59 and live in Morgan Hill, California. That's me and my mom, Doris, in the photo. She passed away at the age of 92 this past Christmas Eve, December 24, 2018. For the past 5 years I had been her full-time caregiver. Now that she is gone, I have to start over, find a job and build a new life.
My mom was a registered nurse her entire life. The many places she worked during her 60-plus years as a nurse included nursing homes. And she had told her friends that she would never want to end up in a nursing home. She asked me to stay with her "forever." So, I became her caregiver to allow her to spend her last years in her own home. I loved her and felt I had an obligation to help her live as she wished in her final years.
But it was very difficult. My mom suffered from macular degeneration, so she was practically blind. For the last four years, she had to use a walker because of extremely limited mobility. She was in the hospital in 2017 for congestive heart failure. Then she fell last March and broke her wrist. Since July, she was confined to a wheelchair. And then she suffered multiple strokes; it was a bad year… I also had a heart attack last January and was injured in an accident in October.
It was also difficult financially. We were barely making it month to month. We began to fall behind on the utilities. I ended up selling many of my belongings just to pay the bills: my car, my laptop, my iPhone, etc… We did not receive any assistance from the government and I was not compensated in any way for being a full-time caregiver. Things just got worse once the medical bills started to increase.
I miss my mom. But, truthfully, she is in a better place. The last few years have been very difficult for her and she was ready to go. She said so. Her parents and most of her close relatives died fairly young, so my mom making it to 92 was really something. She had a long, full life.
As for me, I now have to start over. I have been actively looking for work and do so nearly continuously. My age will work against me for some jobs in this area. Some employers would also consider what I have been doing for the past 5 years as a gap in my work history. But I'm still looking and still hopeful that I'm worthwhile enough to be hired. I have had several interviews, however I have not received any job offers yet.
The money I have received in this campaign so far has gone to paying the past due rent and some of the past due utilities. Any further funds that are donated will go to paying the rent and keeping the utilities on.
If I am unable to raise my goal, then I would have to put any additional funds donated towards the cost of putting my belongings in storage and disposing of my mom’s things and furniture, so I can move out.
It’s never been easy for me to ask for help, but I am in a truly desperate situation. The few friends and family I have are unable to help me at this time. I do not want to be homeless. I just want the chance to start over, to find work and have the opportunity to build a new life.
If you're able to contribute, it would be greatly appreciated and a real help to my life. Please share this campaign with others. Thanks for reading.
The 3-day eviction notice was just delivered. I have until about 3PM on Friday to pay the remaining $800 of the rent or I will have to move out or be evicted. I have no place to go so I will be homeless. I have also not raised enough to cover movers or storage, so I will also lose most of my belongings. My health is not good enough for me to move much.
In order for the funds to arrive by Friday morning so I can pay the remains rent, donations will need to be made before midnight tonight. I do have some funds coming in the regular mail but they will not arrive in time.
Please read my story and help if you can.
UPDATE July 11, 2019:
On May 30, 2019, I had a heart attack. It put me into supraventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation. I was in intensive care for two days. I am now in recovery from the heart attack and also dealing with new medications. These have left me almost completely disabled. I have now been advised by my cardiologist to "take it easy".
I originally started this campaign to help me start over after my mother's death. Unfortunately, this latest event transforms my quest to restart my life into a desperate attempt just to survive.
I am now having to try and raise funds again so I can avoid homelessness while I recover and apply for disability. I am concerned that I would not survive becoming homeless.
I am applying for SSDI, but my exact heart condition has to be determined and backed up by tests. I am having those tests on July 18, after which the process should speed up.
The funds raised so far have paid off most of the debts remaining from before my mother passed away and enabled me to avoid homelessness. But now I need just a little more help.
Once again, thank you to those of you who have donated. Your generous help has been greatly appreciated. If you can help by donating or sharing this campaign, it would be a huge assistance.
Where this all started:
Hi, my name is Jeff. I’m 59 and live in Morgan Hill, California. That's me and my mom, Doris, in the photo. She passed away at the age of 92 this past Christmas Eve, December 24, 2018. For the past 5 years I had been her full-time caregiver. Now that she is gone, I have to start over, find a job and build a new life.
My mom was a registered nurse her entire life. The many places she worked during her 60-plus years as a nurse included nursing homes. And she had told her friends that she would never want to end up in a nursing home. She asked me to stay with her "forever." So, I became her caregiver to allow her to spend her last years in her own home. I loved her and felt I had an obligation to help her live as she wished in her final years.
But it was very difficult. My mom suffered from macular degeneration, so she was practically blind. For the last four years, she had to use a walker because of extremely limited mobility. She was in the hospital in 2017 for congestive heart failure. Then she fell last March and broke her wrist. Since July, she was confined to a wheelchair. And then she suffered multiple strokes; it was a bad year… I also had a heart attack last January and was injured in an accident in October.
It was also difficult financially. We were barely making it month to month. We began to fall behind on the utilities. I ended up selling many of my belongings just to pay the bills: my car, my laptop, my iPhone, etc… We did not receive any assistance from the government and I was not compensated in any way for being a full-time caregiver. Things just got worse once the medical bills started to increase.
I miss my mom. But, truthfully, she is in a better place. The last few years have been very difficult for her and she was ready to go. She said so. Her parents and most of her close relatives died fairly young, so my mom making it to 92 was really something. She had a long, full life.
As for me, I now have to start over. I have been actively looking for work and do so nearly continuously. My age will work against me for some jobs in this area. Some employers would also consider what I have been doing for the past 5 years as a gap in my work history. But I'm still looking and still hopeful that I'm worthwhile enough to be hired. I have had several interviews, however I have not received any job offers yet.
The money I have received in this campaign so far has gone to paying the past due rent and some of the past due utilities. Any further funds that are donated will go to paying the rent and keeping the utilities on.
If I am unable to raise my goal, then I would have to put any additional funds donated towards the cost of putting my belongings in storage and disposing of my mom’s things and furniture, so I can move out.
It’s never been easy for me to ask for help, but I am in a truly desperate situation. The few friends and family I have are unable to help me at this time. I do not want to be homeless. I just want the chance to start over, to find work and have the opportunity to build a new life.
If you're able to contribute, it would be greatly appreciated and a real help to my life. Please share this campaign with others. Thanks for reading.
Organizer
Jeff Miles
Organizer
Morgan Hill, CA
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