Help us save our home and Max!
Donation protected
Hi, my name is James, or otherwise known as Raphial as many of my online clients and friends call me. My amazing and beautiful fiance Sabrina and I live in SLC, UT; we have two wonderful dogs and a few smaller pets in between. I'm the kind of person with many passions, and love to stay busy by working on computers and servers, classic cars, web design, and graphic design. I have a large background of many stories and experiences having moved out the moment I graduated. I moved across the US several times to several different states and have wound up in many places for many different reasons both good and bad. Like many, I'm simply trying to get by and live what little is left of the hopeful American Dream.
While I've dreaded posting anything anywhere for any help, because I am a very stubborn guy and hate relying on other people for things because I feel like a burden, I'm sadly almost at my worst with no choice but to ask. I've been suggested by many to post a GoFundMe in hopes it can help my situation, so here I am.
My GoFundMe is to cover my expenses I cannot catch up to. I haven't gotten anything out of a single check in almost two months we've been so behind on bills and negative account balances. We've docked off several bills, returned a lot of merchandise that I could that was lying around or car parts I wasn't using, etc. One day things would look up, then the next day something else would take out of our accounts. As embarressing as it is, we need help. I owe a car payment I'm already late on with my truck, our only drivable vehicle, I owe my $200 pet deposit, next month's storage on the 3rd I cannot pay for that has my classic car and my things, and all three of my bank accounts (One being Paypal) are a little over $600 negative total. I'm going to lose a lot this month if I cannot get help in time...I could lose my dog once again...my only drivable vehicle, and possibly my home and might wind up homeless again.
(Our dog, Maximus Dogmus Meridius)
In November of 2014, I moved out of my last relationship of five years with an old friend of mine. We had an apartment together, and things were pretty crazy. At the end of our lease, in November, we were to both go our separate ways and find new places to stay since our living together wasn't working out so well. Times were tough, but we made it through it. She had a place to go, and so did I. Unfortunately within that last week my place to go fell through, and I had no where to go. I had just bought a '66 Skylark as a project car, busting months and months of work and dedication to get it, and I had many different boxes of things I didn't want to have to get rid of, so finding a place was hard.
(Our '66 Skylark, our stored away project car, she's come a long, long way. Originally found as a complete shell)
At the last moment, however, a place came up in SLC, UT where another old friend of mine had lived. He had been supportive of me in the past during my relationship's breakup, and invited me to live with him in his condo in a little neighborhood. With no choice, other than being homeless and losing my things, I obliged. My very close friend of nearly 2 years at the time, Sabrina, wanted to come along. We had gotten close after everything that had happened during the summer, and we didn't want to separate. It was a happy day when after we moved, on November 1st, she had asked me out. All gooshiness aside, times were still rough, but we got through it together.
However, I quickly learned that the living environment I had moved into was toxic and chaotic, almost disturbing. My former friend that helped me move down turned out to be a corrupted landlord, and had gone through almost 20 (Yes, literally 18 I think it was) roomates in the past, one after the other, using them for money. He thought since I was an at-home digital artist, and I earned decent money off of this, he could use me for it. However, since my '66 was stuck in his garage, I did everything I could to stay without trouble. Eventually I got it running, and running good. I had alost gotten a nice job at Orielly Auto Parts in January, and had moved up quickly to manager's position.
(My daily driver, my '73 Electra. Most reliable car I've had up until this point; will be back up soon)
Advance many months later of hard work, and my '66 had engine failure. Shortly after, we were evicted from my former friend's home without any notice or warning. We had to move, and had no where to go, nor anywhere to store my things or my '66. Once again, I was stuck in a hard place. We ended up tagging along with friends and sleeping on couches for nearly two months. During this time the many debts I was trying to pay off beforehand had gotten the best of us, and it wasn't long until money became a huge issue (I still had my job keep in mind, and my fiance just started working at Wendy's).The two months being out was pretty harsh, and took its toll on us in many different ways, especially with money. It seemed like every time we started to get everything paid off, more would come around, if not something else. Car payments, credit card debt, payday loan debt, and more. It got to the point where I made a mistake thinking it would be wise to let these things overdraft my accounts so I wouldn't lose our things. It got out of hand quick though, and soon I found myself hundreds in the negatives in my bank. In a desperate attempt, I made another bank account, and thought things would look up again.
We had finally found a place to go to, though it was far away from both of our jobs, but it was something. So we moved in. Rent quickly became a little bit more than expected, though manageable. Then our landlord told us we couldn't keep our German Shepherd named Max. I've had him since he was a few months old, rescued from a very abusive and neglectful home. I literally went to the home and picked him up. It wasn't good. So it was heartbreaking that I had to lose my dog...I exhausted every option available, stayed up many nights finding a place to keep him. Eventually I let a friend take him and give him up for adoption. It wasn't long after a young lady took him in. Then I find out she didn't want him, and he had been roaming miles upon miles in South Jordan, UT (Far south of us). He was picked up, and since he was chipped, my fiance and I were called. Animal shelter wouldn't let us touch him though, and it took days to get him out. Thankfully, a friend of a friend picked him up who had ties with the shelter, and put him for adoption again.
A lovely couple, one being a veteran, took him in. Everything seemed to be going good for Max. Then suddenly weeks later, he was brought back because their apartment complex wouldn't let them keep him. I picked him up, and thankfully I convinced my landlord to let me keep him, but I have to pay a $200 pet deposit. In the midst of all of this, my daily driver's engine took a dump, and I ended up snagging an old truck to use, for cheap, for the time being. I was going to pay it off.
Then I lost my job. My store lost its store manager a few months before, and my work was chaos. Money and product was missing all over the place, and a lot of people quit. Suddenly one day I was being interrigated myself for literally hours and hours by corporate and I was accused of stealing product and money, which just...blew my mind. I had put so much work and effort into my job, it made me furious to hear these things. What's more frustrating is I needed parts for my cars all the time to get them running since they're all old. But never in my wildest dreams did I think to myself about stealing anything, even if I desperately needed the parts and didn't have the money. Then I learn after that dreadful day of interrigation, I was being set up to be fired, along with several other people, by the same corporate goons that interrigated me. So before things got rough, I quit. I had found several other job offers that would pay better. It was sad to leave, but I did.
However, with my luck, those two jobs didn't work out. One was miserable, and the other was way too far out of reach. Both were pretty far anyway. So now I'm out of the job, trying to get my old job back at another store I used to cover that has always been short staff'd. I hope I can get something, and soon.
For the time being I am taking digital art commissions at home to hopefully ease the financial stress, even after I find a job. But for now, this is what I got, and am making due with!
(Sabrina and our two little four-legged kids)
Any and all donations will be used to pay these expenses to help cover payments I cannot afford so we do not lose our dog, home, or car. Everything is due within the month...last thing being rent and my storage due on the 3rd. We've been homeless already, and I don't want that to happen once again. This would be a huge help to us, and words would not be able to show our appreciation if we could get caught back up because it will help us finally be able to live again.
Even the smallest of help is a lot of help.
We'd like to thank you for reading this dramatic story thus far, and I really appreciate the consideration anyone may have to donate to our cause.
We appreciate your support, and we hope you have a wonderful day!
Thank you!
While I've dreaded posting anything anywhere for any help, because I am a very stubborn guy and hate relying on other people for things because I feel like a burden, I'm sadly almost at my worst with no choice but to ask. I've been suggested by many to post a GoFundMe in hopes it can help my situation, so here I am.
My GoFundMe is to cover my expenses I cannot catch up to. I haven't gotten anything out of a single check in almost two months we've been so behind on bills and negative account balances. We've docked off several bills, returned a lot of merchandise that I could that was lying around or car parts I wasn't using, etc. One day things would look up, then the next day something else would take out of our accounts. As embarressing as it is, we need help. I owe a car payment I'm already late on with my truck, our only drivable vehicle, I owe my $200 pet deposit, next month's storage on the 3rd I cannot pay for that has my classic car and my things, and all three of my bank accounts (One being Paypal) are a little over $600 negative total. I'm going to lose a lot this month if I cannot get help in time...I could lose my dog once again...my only drivable vehicle, and possibly my home and might wind up homeless again.
(Our dog, Maximus Dogmus Meridius)
In November of 2014, I moved out of my last relationship of five years with an old friend of mine. We had an apartment together, and things were pretty crazy. At the end of our lease, in November, we were to both go our separate ways and find new places to stay since our living together wasn't working out so well. Times were tough, but we made it through it. She had a place to go, and so did I. Unfortunately within that last week my place to go fell through, and I had no where to go. I had just bought a '66 Skylark as a project car, busting months and months of work and dedication to get it, and I had many different boxes of things I didn't want to have to get rid of, so finding a place was hard.
(Our '66 Skylark, our stored away project car, she's come a long, long way. Originally found as a complete shell)
At the last moment, however, a place came up in SLC, UT where another old friend of mine had lived. He had been supportive of me in the past during my relationship's breakup, and invited me to live with him in his condo in a little neighborhood. With no choice, other than being homeless and losing my things, I obliged. My very close friend of nearly 2 years at the time, Sabrina, wanted to come along. We had gotten close after everything that had happened during the summer, and we didn't want to separate. It was a happy day when after we moved, on November 1st, she had asked me out. All gooshiness aside, times were still rough, but we got through it together.
However, I quickly learned that the living environment I had moved into was toxic and chaotic, almost disturbing. My former friend that helped me move down turned out to be a corrupted landlord, and had gone through almost 20 (Yes, literally 18 I think it was) roomates in the past, one after the other, using them for money. He thought since I was an at-home digital artist, and I earned decent money off of this, he could use me for it. However, since my '66 was stuck in his garage, I did everything I could to stay without trouble. Eventually I got it running, and running good. I had alost gotten a nice job at Orielly Auto Parts in January, and had moved up quickly to manager's position.
(My daily driver, my '73 Electra. Most reliable car I've had up until this point; will be back up soon)
Advance many months later of hard work, and my '66 had engine failure. Shortly after, we were evicted from my former friend's home without any notice or warning. We had to move, and had no where to go, nor anywhere to store my things or my '66. Once again, I was stuck in a hard place. We ended up tagging along with friends and sleeping on couches for nearly two months. During this time the many debts I was trying to pay off beforehand had gotten the best of us, and it wasn't long until money became a huge issue (I still had my job keep in mind, and my fiance just started working at Wendy's).The two months being out was pretty harsh, and took its toll on us in many different ways, especially with money. It seemed like every time we started to get everything paid off, more would come around, if not something else. Car payments, credit card debt, payday loan debt, and more. It got to the point where I made a mistake thinking it would be wise to let these things overdraft my accounts so I wouldn't lose our things. It got out of hand quick though, and soon I found myself hundreds in the negatives in my bank. In a desperate attempt, I made another bank account, and thought things would look up again.
We had finally found a place to go to, though it was far away from both of our jobs, but it was something. So we moved in. Rent quickly became a little bit more than expected, though manageable. Then our landlord told us we couldn't keep our German Shepherd named Max. I've had him since he was a few months old, rescued from a very abusive and neglectful home. I literally went to the home and picked him up. It wasn't good. So it was heartbreaking that I had to lose my dog...I exhausted every option available, stayed up many nights finding a place to keep him. Eventually I let a friend take him and give him up for adoption. It wasn't long after a young lady took him in. Then I find out she didn't want him, and he had been roaming miles upon miles in South Jordan, UT (Far south of us). He was picked up, and since he was chipped, my fiance and I were called. Animal shelter wouldn't let us touch him though, and it took days to get him out. Thankfully, a friend of a friend picked him up who had ties with the shelter, and put him for adoption again.
A lovely couple, one being a veteran, took him in. Everything seemed to be going good for Max. Then suddenly weeks later, he was brought back because their apartment complex wouldn't let them keep him. I picked him up, and thankfully I convinced my landlord to let me keep him, but I have to pay a $200 pet deposit. In the midst of all of this, my daily driver's engine took a dump, and I ended up snagging an old truck to use, for cheap, for the time being. I was going to pay it off.
Then I lost my job. My store lost its store manager a few months before, and my work was chaos. Money and product was missing all over the place, and a lot of people quit. Suddenly one day I was being interrigated myself for literally hours and hours by corporate and I was accused of stealing product and money, which just...blew my mind. I had put so much work and effort into my job, it made me furious to hear these things. What's more frustrating is I needed parts for my cars all the time to get them running since they're all old. But never in my wildest dreams did I think to myself about stealing anything, even if I desperately needed the parts and didn't have the money. Then I learn after that dreadful day of interrigation, I was being set up to be fired, along with several other people, by the same corporate goons that interrigated me. So before things got rough, I quit. I had found several other job offers that would pay better. It was sad to leave, but I did.
However, with my luck, those two jobs didn't work out. One was miserable, and the other was way too far out of reach. Both were pretty far anyway. So now I'm out of the job, trying to get my old job back at another store I used to cover that has always been short staff'd. I hope I can get something, and soon.
For the time being I am taking digital art commissions at home to hopefully ease the financial stress, even after I find a job. But for now, this is what I got, and am making due with!
(Sabrina and our two little four-legged kids)
Any and all donations will be used to pay these expenses to help cover payments I cannot afford so we do not lose our dog, home, or car. Everything is due within the month...last thing being rent and my storage due on the 3rd. We've been homeless already, and I don't want that to happen once again. This would be a huge help to us, and words would not be able to show our appreciation if we could get caught back up because it will help us finally be able to live again.
Even the smallest of help is a lot of help.
We'd like to thank you for reading this dramatic story thus far, and I really appreciate the consideration anyone may have to donate to our cause.
We appreciate your support, and we hope you have a wonderful day!
Thank you!
Organizer
James M Hebert
Organizer
Salt Lake City, UT