Help Un-hassle Rita Hassel
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Dear Reader,
I'm using GoFundMe to assist a wonderful Christian lady I have known but never met -- a lady whose energy and perseverance in the face of near-hopelessness deeply touches my sense of care-giving. I pray it touches yours in similar fashion.
The lady I speak of is Rita Sizemore Hassel - a fellow high school alum from our class of '65 that I never recall meeting while in high school. I only recently became familiar with her through Facebook where she was asking for prayers in support of a series of surgeries she was facing. Those prayers uncovered a story that pains me considerably and compels me to ask for generous hearts to assist her, an effort I'll entitle - "Help un-hassle Rita Hassel."
The Hassle:
Rita needs $4,219 and growing by $30 per day to recover her automobile from the state of Missouri who without warning impounded her vehicle for back taxes -- after she lost her tax money to a daughter who "stole" the tax funds from her.
Background:
Rita lives in a trailer park in a small town outside of Kansas City. She's 70 years old, has suffered considerably from diabetes, is physically handicapped, and suffers also from congestive heart failure and a-fib. She once recently spent four days stuck in her own shower after a fall. She couldn't move and wasn't rescued until a neighbor heard her banging on the walls for help. Her most recent hospitalization (the one where I met Rita through Facebook and prayer) was for the diabetes, she was nearly comatose when admitted. While Medicare generously covers most of her medical expenses, Rita tells me that the many remaining medical expenses and prescriptions (especially insulin) are difficult to afford on her meager social security check, her only source of income. But as desperate as that story sounds....we're not seeking help for her medical expenses -- we just want to get her car back!
"They took my car!...."
Rita tearfully shared with me that the State of Missouri had just towed her car away -- until she pays back-property taxes of $3648.76. To make matters worse, she owes $300 for the towing and $30 per day for storage -- a bill that is now an additional $570 over and above the back taxes.
Where did the money go?
The disheartening story behind the above situation is that Rita's money that was to be used for paying these taxes was stolen by her daughter from an inheritance account that her daughter had been granted access through POA. Unfortunately, the daughter is aware of Rita's hardship but does not find it in her heart to assist her own mother in time of need.
In the several times I have spoken with Rita since she divulged her situation, I have come to know her as an amazing Christian lady, always with a generous peaceful tone in her voice, always with a scriptural reference to her outlook, always positive about her situation.
Back in Indiana where I live some 500 miles away from Rita, and where I serve as a Stephen Minister for my church, I just know I have to find help - and I'm starting with a GoFundMe campaign.
The bottom line to this painful story is that Rita has multiple serious illnesses and disabilities and the state of Missouri, by impounding her vehicle, has made it impossible for her to drive herself to doctors or hospitals or clinics. The state of Missouri has made it difficult for her to get the week's groceries or make it to her church to worship.
Please help me "un-hassle Rita Hassel." Your generous donations would be much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Marvin E. Bailey
I'm using GoFundMe to assist a wonderful Christian lady I have known but never met -- a lady whose energy and perseverance in the face of near-hopelessness deeply touches my sense of care-giving. I pray it touches yours in similar fashion.
The lady I speak of is Rita Sizemore Hassel - a fellow high school alum from our class of '65 that I never recall meeting while in high school. I only recently became familiar with her through Facebook where she was asking for prayers in support of a series of surgeries she was facing. Those prayers uncovered a story that pains me considerably and compels me to ask for generous hearts to assist her, an effort I'll entitle - "Help un-hassle Rita Hassel."
The Hassle:
Rita needs $4,219 and growing by $30 per day to recover her automobile from the state of Missouri who without warning impounded her vehicle for back taxes -- after she lost her tax money to a daughter who "stole" the tax funds from her.
Background:
Rita lives in a trailer park in a small town outside of Kansas City. She's 70 years old, has suffered considerably from diabetes, is physically handicapped, and suffers also from congestive heart failure and a-fib. She once recently spent four days stuck in her own shower after a fall. She couldn't move and wasn't rescued until a neighbor heard her banging on the walls for help. Her most recent hospitalization (the one where I met Rita through Facebook and prayer) was for the diabetes, she was nearly comatose when admitted. While Medicare generously covers most of her medical expenses, Rita tells me that the many remaining medical expenses and prescriptions (especially insulin) are difficult to afford on her meager social security check, her only source of income. But as desperate as that story sounds....we're not seeking help for her medical expenses -- we just want to get her car back!
"They took my car!...."
Rita tearfully shared with me that the State of Missouri had just towed her car away -- until she pays back-property taxes of $3648.76. To make matters worse, she owes $300 for the towing and $30 per day for storage -- a bill that is now an additional $570 over and above the back taxes.
Where did the money go?
The disheartening story behind the above situation is that Rita's money that was to be used for paying these taxes was stolen by her daughter from an inheritance account that her daughter had been granted access through POA. Unfortunately, the daughter is aware of Rita's hardship but does not find it in her heart to assist her own mother in time of need.
In the several times I have spoken with Rita since she divulged her situation, I have come to know her as an amazing Christian lady, always with a generous peaceful tone in her voice, always with a scriptural reference to her outlook, always positive about her situation.
Back in Indiana where I live some 500 miles away from Rita, and where I serve as a Stephen Minister for my church, I just know I have to find help - and I'm starting with a GoFundMe campaign.
The bottom line to this painful story is that Rita has multiple serious illnesses and disabilities and the state of Missouri, by impounding her vehicle, has made it impossible for her to drive herself to doctors or hospitals or clinics. The state of Missouri has made it difficult for her to get the week's groceries or make it to her church to worship.
Please help me "un-hassle Rita Hassel." Your generous donations would be much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Marvin E. Bailey
Organizer
Marvin Bailey
Organizer
Fishers, IN
