Help Stefan Pociask, your Quora wildlife educator

My name is Stefan. A current resident of Davidson, North Carolina. I'm an Engineer, a Wildlife Worker, and an Army Airborne Infantry Veteran on disability.

I have to ask for help, and I'm finding that reaching out is very difficult. But I've run out of options.

You may know me from the question-and-answer forum, Quora. For 9 years, it's been my absolute joy to spread the wildlife knowledge I have, to the many thousands who follow me, and those who ask, and those who care to listen. Educating the willing, about all the wild life of our world, and passing on what I've learned from a lifetime of working or volunteering for wildlife has been a fulfilling privilege. I cherish my readers, from New York, to India, Chile, and Australia; all of you. If you are interested in learning about our wildlife, I try to explain the science in fun educational ways. Today, I explained all about tails; wonderful, special tails of every kind. There are lots of different tails in the world! You are welcome to follow me on Quora, or just take a quick look. Try this link! : https://www.quora.com/profile/Stefan-Pociask

Above, is one of our patients I'm trying to help at the Raptor Hospital. He's not doing very well; and unfortunately, at the moment, neither am I.

Right now, I've come to a difficult place in my life, and I must ask for your help. Last year, I had a heart attack. Simultaneously, I also had a seriously infected gall bladder that needed to be removed. The helicopter and doctors saved my heart and my life that day, but the multiple surgeries, the needed opiates I was on, the indescribable long-term pain, and the medical complexities of my condition, having several things wrong at once, put me out of commission for over a year, and I'm now flat-broke due to lengthy unemployment and all kinds of bills.

I've been searching for an engineering job since June... 10 to 12 hours a day... and despite my very best efforts and over 480 applications sent out, I'm still jobless. I will be getting a second eviction notice from my apartment on the 6th of the month if I don't find a way to pay my rent and my bills. And to be quite honest, it terrifies me more than any jaguar, cougar, bear, or eagle that I have ever studied or worked with. I have no remaining options that won't leave me and my pets homeless, and turn my life upside-down even worse than it is now. GoFundMe is my last resort of desperation.

I don't understand why I can't get hired at 61 years old, with 33 years of Engineering experience. But until I do get hired, I need to come up with about $2,800 a month to keep the barest necessities of shelter and other endless bills... to keep my home. I'm deep in a hole and my $171 per month Veterans Disability check won't cut it.

Could you please help me get through this very difficult time? Even the smallest amounts will be deeply appreciated. I would love to get back to giving to animal charities and volunteering my time, and also once again spend more time answering your wildlife questions online. And most of all, I would love to get back to work. I swear I'm trying, in every conceivable way! But right now, I can hardly breathe, from anxiety and uncertainty, with a due date of homelessness quickly approaching.

I hope with all my heart that I will only need your help for a few month's bills. I will shut this down as soon as I start earning a steady paycheck (which every day, for so long now, I expect to be tomorrow).

Thank you for listening to me. I love you all.

Stef

Edit: Going forward with a more optimistic view. A few months have passed, and your generosity, kindness and messages have blown me away! Still no results with my continued engineering job applications, but hopefully, my luck will change and I will be hired soon. I will be. I simply have to be. I'm trying some new strategies, like removing any clue of my age, for one. Thank you all, who have bought me time and sanity. As I update this on Saturday, April 13th, I can tell you I had my first interview all year a few days ago. In another state. To make a long story short, it was an excellent interview. They said they'd let me know in 10 days. But on my 2 1/2 drive home they called me and wanted me to start immediately! I celebrated and was looking forward to telling all of you! I ended my lease, and began packing to move. The next morning, they called me back, and the guy said that he had "slept on it"... and decided to not hire me after all. That was Wednesday. It was a very bad day for me.

Believe me, if Walmart Greeter paid enough for my bills and rent, I would take it. A couple of you have asked why I just don't take any low paying job at all. Well, the landlord won't take half the rent... or I would. I'm searching in my field of Mechanical Engineering. Even an entry level job, despite 30 years experience. So, no... I'm not holding out for the big bucks. It just can't be McDonald's.

I know it seems like I've received a lot of money; and I have, which I'm eternally appreciative of. But it hasn't all come at once. It's a been a slow trickle, and it's gone pretty much as soon as I receive it. Living for nearly a year on $12,000 requires some pretty extreme cut-backs. I'm pinching every penny til it bleeds. I go without... everything. But thanks to you I have a roof and electricity, and enough for cat food. I had a temporary freelance project for a few weeks, and between that, and what you've given, I've been making it from one month to the next. Not quite there yet, for a May rent payment. And as always, doing my best to get there.