My name is Bob Letterman. I'm a 73 year old retired guy who worked his career in retail sales with no pension plan. My wife is a 69 year old retired nurse who worked through agencies and also has no pension. Each of us have health issues (heart disease and spinal stenosis for me, and my wife has heart disease and end stage kidney disease and is on dialysis and was turned down for a transplant). Our only income is our Social Security.

We own one vehicle, a 2012 Chevy Equinox that is showing its age. In the last year I've had to put on a new muffler, a new serpentine belt and a new high pressure fuel pump. Paying for those repairs took all of what little savings we had and maxed out our credit cards. We have given up our cable tv service ad my cell phone service to cut our living expenses as much as we can, but with the rising costs of groceries and medicines, it's been a struggle.

Now the car has broken down again; it needs a new timing chain and work done on both the camshaft and the crankshaft. The cost for all this is an estimated $2500. We just don't have it. My mechanic is willing to work with us somewhat for payment but can't start until we raise the first $1600. We desperately need our vehicle back. My wife goes to dialysis three times a week and is having to arrange for rides from family and friends until we get our car back. Scheduling for this hasn't been easy and she just missed her last session. I also missed my last doctor's appointment. Our credit rating is such that trying to secure a loan for a new used vehicle is not an option, never mind that we cannot afford an extra loan repayment. Believe me, I know times are hard right now, but I hope you can find a way to help us out. I have always managed to finagle our finances in the past to keep things going, but the end of our rope has been reached.