Searching for Hope: A Journey at 60

My story begins in October of 2024. My roommate and I of 9 years had taken a trip to LA. We visited New Orleans with an agreement that she paid for the lodging and I paid for everything else, i.e., food, drinks, tours, and so on. We were not partners, lovers, or anything of that nature. We were just two friends who had known each other for 16 years and lived together for 9 years. But I digress, upon returning from the trip, all seemed well until 4 days later when I got a text message stating we needed to talk and that she left me a letter on my desk in my room. The letter stated that she was moving out at the end of the month, which was in 2 weeks, but that she would at least pay the other half of November rent. . I live in the outlying suburbs of Atlanta, GA, where even most 1-bedroom apartments start at about $1200-$1600 a month. My complex worked with me to put me in a small bedroom at roughly $1400 a month after amenities are all added in.

I have several health issues happening. I have already had 2 back surgeries, I have peripheral neuropathy which was diagnosed in 2020 and will only get worse as I age. This is a disease that affects my feet and hands causing me to either lose sensation or become hypersensitive. Think of sitting on your leg too long and your foot falls asleep and you try to stand; you can't. Then there is the pins and needles feeling. That feeling is what I live with 24/7 and it is so bad some days that it's very painful and when I walk all I can think of is I look like Frankenstein...LOL. I have to keep my sense of humor some days just so I don't lose it and break down. I also suffer from mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. I mean, come on, who wouldn't be in my case, but I keep on my meds, which do cost money, which brings me to why I'm here.

The company I was working for 2 1/2 years ago fired me saying that I was no longer doing the job that I was doing when I started. Now to some degree this is true, but only because out of the 1 year I was there hired as a CC2, we had no manager for 2 months on one occasion and 3 months on the last occasion and I was expected to step up into the manager's position along with my busy position. Granted, that was supposed to be when the manager was going on vacation, not quitting or being fired. It was meant to be very short term. So anyway, after running those positions, I just decided to apply for them. But during that time, of course, I did acquire a lot of knowledge about what was going on with the company. Long story short, the company was doing some very naughty things and I began to ask questions. Suddenly a new manager was hired and I was fired.

Now currently, the last company I worked for was a good company all in all. They did try to help me as much as they could. They were a small company and I just could not afford the insurance, so I opted out. I have been without any type of health insurance now for 2 years. I have been able to see my primary care doctor because he works with me on the cost of self-pay visits. The company switched over to a new EMS (Electronic Medical System) that basically took over the job I was hired to do. So after a year and a half with a company and some people I really enjoyed working with, I once again found myself in the unemployment line due to my job being dissolved by the company and with no other place to put me. I am 60 years old. I am looking for work, I can't stand on my feet for long so it must be some type of office work. But people are being very skeptical to 1. hire someone my age and 2. with my disabilities. So here I am pleading for help. If you or anyone you know can please help me in any way or if you need to contact me to confirm any part of what I said, please let me know.