$5 to change a life

My name is Tori

I recently moved to Portland Oregon from Texas after my mom passed away due to cancer. She was my best friend and with no family left, there wasn’t anything keeping there anymore. I had no job or expectations lined up for me and was going to follow my heart. My mom and I always talked about living out in the beautiful PNW but we never got to make the move together before she got really sick. The last years of her life were really hard watching the decline of her strength and spirts before she went into hospice. I told her I would honor her wishes by fulfilling our dreams.

The life out here started off great. I found a place to rent a room quite soon after arriving and not knowing anyone. I started up my own Handywoman business because I’m great with my hands and seemed fitting to do something I’m passionate about which is helping people any way I can. This place was truly magical. Starting a new business is hard and expensive as a woman but especially because I have one arm. I made it work to the best of my abilities. 7 months after moving here my car was broken into while I was on site at a clients apartment. $1400 of my tools was stolen out of my car. My tools are my livelihood. It was a huge impact on my emotional wellbeing and financial stability. I felt violated and lost because who was I going to ask for help. I couldn’t talk to my mom anymore for advice. A few of my clients donated some of their old unused tools for me to still do small jobs to make an income. My insurance said they don’t cover it and I needed to get renters insurance for things like that. I considered getting another job but that would potentially take weeks for a process to be completed. After a month I was able to replace some of the major essential tools needed to continue my business and doing part-time house cleaning to make up for my rent and other bills. My cat Eva who is 10 years old was shortly diagnosed with a massive life threatening tumor pressing against her heart and lungs. Due to my financial difficulties I just experienced of the break in and having to replace my tools I had to sacrifice some of my expenses where I could. I downgraded my car’s insurance to liability and asked my landlord for one months extension on my rent to help cover medical expenses to get her in to see a doctor. They were understanding and it felt good to have someone on my side. The Vet told me the surgery was going to cost over 10k and it was very invasive. They didn’t think she would survive the operation so I was informed to give her the best life I could, for as long as I could.

This all happened a few days before Christmas. Spending the holiday alone and being severely depressed about everything was really heartbreaking for me. A friend invited me to come spend a few days with them the first week in January to try and lift my spirits. I really didn’t want to leave my cat but my roommate said it would be good for me and they would take care of her. While I was gone my car was stolen. I didn’t find out until I was back that it was missing. After dealing with the timeframe and reporting it stolen to the police it was recovered 3 days later completely totaled. Some addicts had stolen it and wrecked it for a good time. Unfortunately I still only had liability and insurance would not cover it. I now would not be able to get to my jobs the following week. I was absolutely hopeless from the series of events following one right after another. I regretted coming to Portland and wanted to leave but realistically I had to do something so I could survive.

I decided to go back to school and try to use my student loans to help get me a new car. I could not get another loan with a company because my credit was now shot from my vehicle. I didn’t have any money saved because I just used it all to rebuild my business. Every week I have to spend $150-$300 a week on car rentals just to be go to work. I’m currently going to school fulltime and only have 3 days I can afford to work my business. It all consumes the majority of my time. I’m being swallowed in debt trying to get myself outta debt. The car rentals have gone up because summer rates. My student loan is only giving me $1100 per term. I was hoping to save that for a new car but I’m having to spend it on rentals because I’m only making $400 a week with my business. I really don’t want to lose my clients and getting an additional job on top of juggling school full time and working full time isn’t realistic.

I’m sharing this story with you because it is my life and I need help. I have no family or friends that can lend a hand to pull me out of this vicious circle. My goal is to have each individual person donate at least a dollar to help me get a new car. I don’t need a brand new one. I just need a reliable one. I hope I can reach up to 10,000 people and if each one donates a $5, I can start to get my life back.

I’ve given everything I have to those who have needed it these past years and I’m hoping enough people will do the same for me. I believe in the good of people despite what I have experienced here in Portland. I’m not ready to give up. I’m not ready to be homeless. A car can change all of this for me. Can you help give me hope again?