Sometimes we here are the last resort for someone who is holding on by their fingernails. This is the case for Fineena.
In recent years, Fineena has been hit very hard by misfortune after disaster upon calamity. She has lost her work, and later lost her replacement income. She has lost her home--including the many thousands of dollars in equity she had invested in it--and almost all of her possessions. She has lost a lifetime of savings. She has lost her family of origin, which consists now of a sibling who is indifferent to her circumstances. She has lost her health: recently, she was diagnosed with COPD, on top of several years of chronic, untreated high blood pressure, major tooth/gum problems, and clinical depression.
She has a few resources to keep her going. Her beloved dogs, Sam and Julia; a couple of friends in her community, and us.
Sam and Julia
I can't speak from direct experience about being so much on the edge. But I can attest just how wearying it is to fight for the strength to press on, every day. Fineena is doing what she can to access local resources, which in North Carolina are scarce and hard to find. She has applied for SSDI benefits, and there is a good likelihood that she will qualify based on her illnesses and her age. (In less than a year, she will be able to take early SSA benefits. Between now and then, however, she is counting on her SSDI application to come through, and also planning to sell all the handmade items she can.) She has been trying to contact a local medical clinic with the specialists she needs to see; without medical insurance, that specialist access would otherwise be impossible. If she doesn't get connected to someone who can help her stabilize her medical condition, she is at risk of an acute episode, every day. I salute her perseverance in the face of daunting obstacles.
But every time she turns around, there is yet another bill. Let me give you one example.
A couple of years back, Fineena managed to get out of South Carolina, in what had been a disastrous attempt to get closer to her remaining blood relative. Now she is back on familiar turf, in North Carolina. But. She has to transfer her driver's license and her car registration to her new permanent address--in order to vote, of course, but also to apply for food stamps. That's not an inexpensive proposition. She lost the title to her car when her old house went into foreclosure and all her belongings were trashed. So she will have to jump through some bureaucratic hoops to track down another copy of it, for a fee of course. Then, once she has proved her right to the car, it will need some repairs so it will pass the state inspection. That's yet another set of expenses she can't afford. And yes, in theory, she could forgo owning a car. In most cities, including hers, public transportation is not adequate for someone whose health is jeopardized by long stretches out in the heat, or by long walks from home to bus stop to destination and back again.
You see the predicament she is in, I hope, from this single example, one of many to address.
This is what Fineena needs urgently:
$600 for electric bills, which includes a past-due amount plus overdraft fees;
$835 for rent, due on September 1st (no wiggle room on that deadline);
$ 90 for her inhalers, a prescription she hasn't been able to refill for weeks now;
$175 for some groceries, since her pantry is bare.
$125 for water (3 months)
$ 55 for internet access
So $1880, then--by next Tuesday. I hope we can do it, and with your help we can. Will you be an angel for Fineena and help her out right now ?
The next set of bills is only slightly less pressing.
They are:
$100 to see her PCP, who is the gatekeeper for her to gain access to a COPD specialist
$700 for her current and anticipated vet bills, on behalf of an ailing and aging Sam
$500 for getting herself square with the North Carolina DMV
$958 for a complex tooth extraction requiring anesthesia
That's another $2258, which she will need by the second week of September.
We're looking for a total of $4138 then, nearly half of it needed in the next seven days. Please do what you can for our sister Fineena. Her painful predicament could happen to any one of us; most of us in this country are only one paycheck away from a cascade of economic woe.
Even a little bit will help, since what we contribute together all adds up.
Thank you all. Every donation, rec, tip, tweet and share will get us closer to our goal.
Let me add a little bit of information to that provided in JekyllnHyde's wonderful box below.
Gift cards are another option. Fineena says: "Local grocery stores are Harris Teeter, Food Lion & Publix. There are WalMarts in the area with grocery sections but I try to avoid Walmart in general however, not in a position to be picky. I get my prescriptions from Target because they still offer $4 generics & also sell some groceries. [Trader Joe's is also an option.]
[Please Kosmail Fineena or me for her snail mail address.]
If you like Fineena's work, as I do, she also offers
Gift Certificates to her own Etsy shop. Please purchase a Gift Certificate if you do not see anything in her present inventory that tickles your fantasy. I can attest that her scarves and cowls are wonderful. I have at least four light-weight scarves, which I wear at every opportunity, and four woolen cowls, which help keep me warm all winter long. I'm rarely without one for long, in fact, when the temperature drops. One of the woolen ones is a custom design my husband commissioned for me. Fineena found yarn from a local spinner (and iirc asked her to make some according to my color choices). It's glorious. (I'll try to upload a photo of it soon.)
Thank you for being an angel once again.
Fineena Needs Our Help Now
- Go to PayPal.com. Click Send Money to Family and Friends, which allows the recipient to get 100% of the donation. Enter Fineena's email address palskaren@aol.com and amount you are sending. The sender's name is visible to the recipient. Remember, every little bit helps and adds up in a hurry.
- If you would like to send a paper check or money order (to protect your real identity) through the US Mail, please send a Kosmail to Fineena to get her mailing address.
- Fineena makes gorgeous scarves and cowls. Many community members have bought them and are ecstatic that they did. The fall season is not far off and you can also help her by making a purchase through her Etsy shop - Willie Ru Designs. If you have specific needs, contact her to place a customized order.
- You can also help by recommending this diary, offering encouraging comments, republishing to your Daily Kos groups, linking to your Facebook pages, and helping to spread the word through Twitter.
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5:05 PM PT: Whoa! I go off to do some family stuff and then some Democratic organizing, and then come back to GREAT news. This diary has been on the Rec List all day! Thanks to JekyllnHyde, 2thanks, and elenacarlena for helping to promote this worthy cause. Fabulous teamwork in action.
Now--drumroll--as of 6:45 PM, we've raised just over $1015. Hooray us! That means we are more than halfway to meeting her urgent needs. Let's see if we can get over that first goal by the end of the evening, shall we? Only $865 to go.
We are very, very grateful for all the support, recs, tips, tweets, shares, donations, hugs, and suggestions you've showered on Fineena today. What a community. I am honored to be a part of it.
7:35 PM PT: More progress to report!
As of 9:45 ET, we had $1371 in hand. Hooray! So now, let's see if we can pull in another $500 before tomorrow, so the urgent needs are met.
Thanks again to everyone who has made this such a productive campaign already, especially to JekyllnHyde, 2thanks, and elenacarlena for their behind-the-scenes and in-every-Community-diary promotion.
Sun Aug 23, 2015 at 5:12 PM PT: From a comment by Fineena of several hours ago (about 2:30 PM EDT)
UPDATE $1751.02
& when this wonderful & much needed rain lets up, I'm off to pick up my inhaler. Thank you so much!
More thank-yous headed your way from me and the whole team--JekyllnHyde, 2thanks, and elenacarlena-- who worked assiduously yesterday (and today) to help spread the word. Kossacks rock!