Life, the Universe and Everything

Too many things have changed since this began. There are a lot of terrifying things happening out in the world. A lot of them are a threat to our safety. Oklahoma wants to dissolve their Department of Mental Health and to send their records to the Department of Corrections... RFK Jr wants to send people with mental health disorders to camps... South Carolina wants abortion (or any other pregnancy loss, miscarriage included) to be punishable by death, while also wanting to get rid of access to birth control. I'm terrified of what is coming but I'm also terrified of what is already happening. Just a few blocks away a homeless woman's tent was burned down. There have been attacks on the homeless. And where we are located, the residents have resisted the construction of a homeless shelter. Encampments nearby have been cleared. And laws already exist that criminalize sleeping in your vehicle. Currently we do not have car insurance. To get it we would have to pay around $300/month. Its required to have a driver's license. That's another $800 to fix, for each of us. And in the meantime, the tag is invalid. If we have to live in the van and can't maintain insurance, we risk arrest and towing. What happens to the pets in that scenario? It's not good. The thought of it stresses me out.

I called the homeless crisis line the other day... There are no shelter beds, no pets allowed there anyway... And NO LOW INCOME HOUSING. None. Nowhere. And if there was we would still need to establish our disabilities AND get on a waiting list. There's an increase of homelessness, other people who rake priority and very real threats to our safety and the lives of our pets.

We desperately need immediate and significant help. Please please please share this. Anywhere, everywhere, often. I'm begging.

*End Edit*

My husband and I have been homeless with our pets since December 2021. We've been pursuing help through SSI and SSDI, applying for relief programs and trying to sell what belongings we can. It's really only been through the help of strangers and friends that we've survived as long as we have. I really don't want to reach out again but I don't think there's any way forward for us unless we can find a home we can live in without the risk of eviction and a vehicle we can rely on.

Physically we can't continue living like this. My husband can't keep repairing our van every week. We can't heal physically or psychologically without security.

Unfortunately we haven't been able to qualify for most programs since SSDI takes an exceedingly long time, we don't have dependent children, we aren't veterans and we don't reside in a city or county that extends assistance beyond those criteria.

If you know us, like really know us... not just from intermittent social media posts... You know how exhausted and hopeless we've become. You also hopefully know how hard we've been trying to dig ourselves out of this hole and why we're in it to start with. I also think that a lot of the world around us is in the same boat as we've been paddling for years.

That being said, I know we aren't the only people in hopeless situations. I know you may see this and be dismissive because "what makes us any different?" And that's fair... If you'd rather not help, I get it and I hope you have a great day. But I figured I may as well open up and try one more time. I am at an impasse. I have to aim high and just hope people find us worth a few dollars here and there.

It's a huge ask... to completely restart our lives with a permenant home and functioning vehicle... but that's what the "wish" category is for, right? Big dreams you need help to achieve? A life changing influx of sympathy...

I have no idea what a home would ultimately cost. The market is wild. There are minimum requirements, for accessibility, for our pets, for the hope of unpacking our storage unit full of our and my mom's things and finally being able to process our grief. And we need to stay near to our limited support system as well as the medical care facilities we frequent. And, unfortunately that number is big. But there it is. And if time goes by and we can afford *anything* reasonably, that's fine... I'm not aiming for a McMansion. Just safe, permenant and not in need of constant repair.

Thank you for getting through this. Ill update with more cats and housing options as I can. ❤️‍