Support Carrie Ann

Can you help Carrie out?  She's facing a number of obstacles that would confound anyone.  Please donate what you can afford to give as soon as you can to help Carrie and Robert survive these big changes.  I am a friend setting this up, but after I've done this part, Carrie will be the primary administrator of this site and the direct recipient of the funds. 
 
From Carrie:
As you've guessed, things have been really difficult for me lately and I'm so overwhelmed I can only concentrate on small things at one time.  I've been feeling so alone and exhausted and these past few weeks finally brought me to my breaking point. I guess what put me in crisis mode is the fact that I've been unmedicated for ten days, and definitely not by choice. I made an appointment for behavioral health as soon as I got to KC, but the wait time for new patients is insane!  The GP doctor I saw would only give me 30 days worth of psych meds, but my appointment with a psych doctor was seven weeks out... go figure. 

But my reason for panicking?  I've never been in a situation where I simply couldn't afford to live.  I've managed to scrape up rent for the last two months, but that's about it.  I haven't paid any of my utility bills, my car loan people are pretty much ready to send the FBI after me, and we've been wearing dubious-smelling clothes for a few weeks because I can't afford quarters for laundry.  I got us on food stamps, which is the biggest blessing I could ever have hoped for. I'm on one waiting list for rent assistance and two waiting lists for utility assistance - both of which will keep me waiting because we're not far enough behind on our bills to warrant immediate assistance.  I'm working two jobs and have applied for TWENTY (literally) other jobs offering full time and benefits. I've followed up on them all and most say they want me but have to wait to make decisions for some reason or another. 

I've made and kept appointments with United Way, Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, and the MO Department of Family Services, all of whom can heap resources on me if I'm a single mother or a veteran.  After three appeals of denials for Robert's social security disabiity claim, he finally got a hearing; he was approved, but because the case was begrudgingly transferred from FL to MO it's being "processed" between the two states. In addition to that, we just got word that because of the government shutdown, the "30-60 day" wait to hear of the restitution decision has now become "upwards of 90 days."  We were expecting his first monthly check at the end of January and the first of his retro pay sometime in February; now I've realized that I'm going to be in financial hell until at least April. This is one of the supernatural roadblocks I had no idea would even exist.

So, that's what's going on. I wish I could say that I have it all under control, but for the first time since I decided to leave Florida, I'm terrified of life. I even wish I could say that I have faith that it will all work out... but I've not been taking care of my soul the way I used to and how I should be.  The coping skills I had in FL are hard to duplicate at this point due to time, location, cost, etc., so I still haven't found my zen. I'm trying though. 

- Carrie