Help Keep Our Family Housed

Well, it's been a rocky road since we unexpectedly moved back to the U.S. in late 2020, mid-pandemic. After a couple of years of challenges in finding places to stay and live, several short-term addresses, four months of being houseless and camping in California to survive and then staying with friends after losing my job in San Francisco, we did find a place in upstate New York.

However, all that was dependent upon my own consulting work remaining steady, which it hasn't thanks to the economic downturn. Since coming here in November, all but one of my clients has stopped work, which means for now we're bringing in enough for rent but nothing else. I've chased every legit business and personal loan option out there, but all it's done is sink my credit - after a long time overseas I had to build my credit back from zero, and now it's heading back that way, which is going to make it harder for us in the future. I have a small amount of credit cards which I've used to try to keep everything in the air, but it's not enough.

I've applied for (and finally gotten) retail work locally, but it doesn't start until Feb 23 and won't pay for another week after that. But at least hooray Starbucks! My wife's immigration process is still in, well, process, so she can't legally work right now. And my wife's family is going through a lot so they are unable to help; mine is unable to help as well.

In the meantime, we've got a lot of bills piling up, and we're trying to make headway on them. Most urgent is the auto loan and utilities, as we need to stay stable after 2 years of instability. A partial breakdown is below:

That all comes to $2,636.85 most of which we will need to pay in the next week. Which is WAY more than we have on hand (around $25), and why we're asking for help.

I do have some additional consulting coming up, including a paid workshop in Boston next week. That's an extra $250 of expenses for travel (gas and hotel, fortunately I can drive there). Of course, freelancing being what it is, I won't get paid for the work until April, but if we can work this out, I can live with that.

We are inordinately grateful for whatever help anyone is able to provide. Also, if you would prefer to treat this as a loan and would like me to repay you, I am happy to do that once we get back on our feet. Please indicate that in the comments.

I feel very sorry about asking for assistance but I really feel like I've run out of options at this point. We've had so much instability as a family since coming to the U.S. on short notice due the pandemic, and I really want to have a more stable and positive life for my wife and son. Anything you can share at this point will be incredibly appreciated and put to immediate use to try to remedy this situation. From my whole heart, thank you.

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