Hi. I’m Michael. I’ve never been too good at asking for help—even when I was raising support for my time at preaching school, I dreaded asking others to invest in me. Even in the past year and a half with so many changes and challenges—from my wife choosing to separate to a complete career shift—I’ve tried my best to avoid asking others for a hand, trying to pull myself up by my own bootstraps. But just when I’d found a new calling as an activities director at a memory care facility, the proverbial bootstraps snapped right off. Before even receiving my first paycheck in this new role, the car I have had for over a decade gave out on me. The necessary repairs to the engine far exceed the value of the car itself at this point. So here I am, asking for help as best as I know how.

For those who know me, you likely know I’m a single father who served in Christian ministry for just shy of a decade. After separating from my wife, I stepped back from church work. I struggled to find a job for quite some time and even moved in with a relative because the cost of rent had eaten through all my savings. After a recent stint as a mall Easter Bunny, a dear friend pointed me in the direction of the Serenity Gardens memory facility where I now find myself employed. This new job in dementia care has been a way for me to minister again in a unique way and feel like I’m doing something that matters beyond a paycheck. But without transportation to get to and from work or to pick up my son when it’s my weekend to have him, I cannot continue serving in this way or take care of my family as I should. The safety net I once had has disappeared over the tumultuous past year, and I have no credit nor savings to reach into to try and right course myself.

I’m humbly asking for you to consider helping me come up with the means to find new transportation. I’m looking for something that can safely get my son and me from point A to point B, nothing more. I know everyone is feeling the effects of the increasingly expensive world we live in, and I know it’s a lot to ask. But if you are able to contribute even the smallest bit, it would mean everything to me.

Blessings.