My name is Jon R, and this is hard for me to write.

I’ve always been a worker, a carpenter, and someone who solved my own problems. Asking for help is uncomfortable for me, but right now I don’t have many options left. I’ve been homeless for a while after going through something traumatic that completely changed my life and my stability.

Last year, I survived a violent incident involving sheriff’s deputies in Delta County, Colorado. I ended up in freezing wet clothes, barely conscious, and was left that way for hours. Since then I’ve been fighting through the physical, emotional, and legal fallout on my own. I recently filed a civil-rights complaint with the FBI because I didn’t know where else to turn.

I’m trying to stay clean, stay safe, and just make it through each day, but the trauma and homelessness together have made everything feel impossible. I don’t have family I can lean on, and I’m doing my best to hold myself together while dealing with the memories and the aftermath.

I’m not asking for much — just enough to get through the next few days and get a small bit of stability under me. A hotel room, food, a place to breathe and rest, maybe a chance to get back on my feet long enough to work again. Anything helps right now: $5, $10, anything. I just need a little help to get back to a place where I can start rebuilding.

If you read this, thank you. If you help, thank you even more.

I’m grateful for anything you can spare.

— Jon