My name is Patrick Almanza and I'm ashamed for doing this on what is possibly the worst day of my life. I count myself lucky for saying that because I have an amazing wife who is alive, beating terminal lung cancer that has caused other health issues, and a daughter who is just becoming a responsible young adult having landed a great part-time job with the local school district working with kids.

Today, I received a 3-Day pay or quit notice from our property management company.

We weren't essential workers during Covid lockdown and had to pay rent, bills, etc. Within that time, our car transmission went out ($4,000+), our fridge ($2,000.00), emergency dental surgery ($2,000.00), etc. Now our entire retirement has been depleted trying to keep our affordable rental. In fact, it's the MOST affordable rental home that we could find and probably won't find anything as affordable in a long time. We're all working part-time as that is all that we've been able to secure at this point, but STILL looking every day for more hours and more regular paychecks.

I have not worked full-time hours in my industry since February. The film and television industry here in the US has not recovered from post-Covid and actor/writers strikes. The work that does come around does not come to California but goes to where tax breaks are cheapest for the studios with the money to produce anything. I have been working remotely for the past few years for New York companies, but all US work has pretty much trickled to almost nothing and layoffs at video game companies on top of that have saturated the job market.

I work part-time hours doing online digital shopping dispensing at the local Walmart (packaging and loading groceries, walking an average of 6 miles a shift) and also have seasonal work teaching STEM courses online and at the local elementary schools, but am in between school sessions and that work has trickled as well. I am lucky to have these jobs at all in my search for full-time permanent work, but they pay, combined, about 1/3 what I am accustomed to making for almost 25 years. I have been late on rent last month and this.

Communicating through the property management company, the house owner has not been receptive to working with us as we've been threatened with a 3-Day or Pay notice verbally for being late a few months ago. So now is the time they've given us a notice taped to our front door.

As of this moment and for the next few weeks let alone 3 days, I will not pull in enough income to pay rent on time, let alone rent the storage space and truck necessary to move a 3-bedroom house filled with our possessions, much of which Christine has been trying to sell. So we are seeking help to cover these immediate emergency expenses related to possibly losing our home. This is terrifying and embarrassing. I never thought I would ever have to start all over again in careers because there was not enough work to go around, let alone in Hollywood. I never dreamed I would have to ask for financial help in such a manner to help protect my family. Please help if you can.