"On The Road Again"

  Hi, I'm Robert Simmons. I'm a disabled vet waiting for my papers at the VA to go through to help us. Meanwhile we're homeless, staying at a house-sit arrangement and soon to be on the street again just before Christmas.
The backstory...
   In August of 2015, my wife of 37 years, suffering from personal issues and her mother's death after a prolonged illness, pushed me and our teen daughter Lauren away.
  We left with little money, our clothing and two cats, all packed into a minivan.
  We had started and run a French food business there in Pensacola in May of 2014. She cooked and baked French food, I did the sales and delivery by car and by foot daily, downtown and their historic neighborhoods, lawyers, doctors, spas and the like.
  By the time I was finished  every day, I was hobbling in great pain because of permanent ligament damage in both ankles, a problem that began while serving in the military. I had to do the daily business food-shopping with the stores' electric scooters after running the route.
   I moved us there so my wife could be close to her mother as her health failed, which gave my wife free days to be with her mom.
  My brother offered me his unused cabin. The Ozarks area where the cabin is located is poor, the towns nearby (6-25 miles) tiny and barely hanging on. Every other storefront empty, most barely making it.
   Winter came and I had to keep us warm, winter clothing from thrift stores, luckily the cheapest I've ever seen seen anywhere, and utilities costs including propane to keep us from freezing to death used up most of our money.
  No one was hiring 60 year-olds who could only stand 2-3 hours maximum a day (in pain), when they could hire the abundant youth there who'd work hard for minimum wage (McDonalds, the main employer).
I decided to try something I had done when I was RV full-timing years before, painting window signs at businesses.
  Sales were tough, I had to offer cheaper prices than I ever had before.
   I beat the streets on foot, door-to-door for a couple of hours a day and scheduled to paint the day after a sale.
  Thanksgiving was coming up and I made enough to get the basics, though we still had to apply for food-stamps to eat.
  Sales got better at Christmas and we were able to bank some money. Sales dropped-off after that.
  We survived on that for the next seven months, just buying the basics and utilities, living off $3,000 for an entire year all told.
  And then, my brother contacted me and told me he was returning in a month to his tiny cabin.
  I started packing a little every day, preparing to camp our way cross-country, no real plans, just surviving.
  During all this, I've been numb, marking time, just existing, concentrating on this not being a traumatic experience for Lauren, not confronting my new life, hoping I was the only one having bad dreams, keeping up a false-front of positivity for her.
  I've tried to make sure Lauren could continue doing her digital art and communicate with her friends online, sitting for 12 hrs at a time at McDs for the free WiFi, me nursing a senior coffee and her with free soda refills.
   Online, serendipitously, I saw a post by a Facebook friend who needed a housesitter fast, as he and his wife were leaving on a work contract and had chihuahuas needing care. We left four days later.
  So, here we are, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, arrived just in time for civil unrest connected to the shooting of an unarmed man, a sniper shooting at the police, and then the subsequent catastrophic flood. 
   Add to that my PTSD from my injuries freezing me up, and I'm almost broke finally.
   I know none of you owe me anything, and have your own life issues, and if you can't help me, that's ok, I won't value your friendships any less.
  If you can help and want to help, thanks.
  My issues come from numerous physical injuries; multiple concussions, spine/neck trauma, broken limbs/fingers/toes, dislocations, torn ligaments, tendons, muscles, and subsequent nerve damage resulting in the numbness of the front third of both feet, and intermittent  heavy pain in my shoulder and neck, and almost constantly in my ankles. Rips and cuts with stitches during these injuries were numerous. Recovery time on these injuries varied from months to 3 years.
  The money is to pay for auto insurance ($500. edited-bought √ thanks) buy gas to San Diego ($300), to ship my '92 Toyota Previa mini-van to Hawai'i ($1,100) via San Diego, and to pay for budget tickets ($800) to get to my raw, off-the-grid country acre on the Big Island via SanDiego.
  The acre is not saleable as it's in trust for my daughter, and it's the cheapest way for us to survive as the weather is perfect and the taxes come to only $200/yr.
  Some of the money is to buy a big tent ($200) and to then build a basic pole structure and outhouse ($2,000) with a tin roof, with bamboo shades for walls.
    I need to get there because Hawai'i, unlike most states, will allow me to apply for state disability, now when I need it, not making me wait for Veterans Administration (5 and a half more months) and Social Security eligibility (poss. years).
  Some of you know how good an artist Lauren is, but this last year her drive has waned and I'm worried for her.
  For those of you who haven't seen her work, go to her FB page, "The Art of Maybellmay".
  If you're interested in her doing art for you, she can do pet portraits, fandom art, redraws of your icons, etc.. and pretty much any subject in her style, and she works cheap.
  If you help or not, if you need a place to go to, contact me on Facebook, and come to my acre in Paradise. It's humble, but it has a great view of the Pacific from 3,000' altitude, with groceries and stores about 10 minutes away. It's about equidistant between Hilo and Kailua-Kona.
  If you can't help financially, please help by sharing this, with your personal endorsement and by asking others to share it too.
  Every bit helps, even if it's just a dollar or two, and the more people who know of our effort, the better chance we have of success.
So far your contributions have enabled me to buy car insurance, thus I was able to register at the VA starting that process, and I just got approved for food stamps and am awaiting the EBT card now.
   You can help directly through Facebook Messenger (No Fees), through GoFundMe or PayPal, and some have sent us checks and gift cards.
Contact me through Facebook Messenger for address, email, etc... anything you might need.
   Again, Thanks for anything you can contribute And your well wishes.
                   Robert & Lauren

P.S. I'm back with my wife after a year and a half!
    The goal is still the same, to begin again on the Big Island. Meanwhile we're still on the road, now with our two older minivans and an old tent-camper. Our home is within ourselves. Wish us luck, and if you can help and want to, thank you in advance. Thanks to everyone for all your help and words of encouragement and advice! Robert, Lauren and Kay