Welcome to the Street Prophets Coffee Hour, a place where politics meets up with religion, art, nature, food, and life. We’re at the middle of the week, when we need a push to get over the hump and start looking toward the weekend. Come in, take a cuppa and a cookie (or three!), and join us.
Helping Humpday was one of the gifts created for us by bfitzinAR. It was taken over by DixieCollie, who also left unexpectedly. It’s still here, a place where Kossacks can share and show caring.
I’m going to post the current list, and then I want to highlight a couple of people whose needs are urgent. Please scroll on after reading the list. We have had some highly successful fundraisers for our community. Check out the diary Vetwife wrote for userexists this weekend. The goal was met, exceeded, then exploded in under four hours. We came through then; we can do it again.
Community Needs List as of 3/29/23. Fundraisers who want a diary to be or stay on the list: PLEASE kosmail requests and donations received to njm5000 by Tuesday evening to be included on the Wednesday morning updated list.
Living on the financial edge—need help? Check out the Helping Directories before your next emergency.
Housing and Living Expenses Fundraisers and Other Links
When sending via PayPal, be sure to select “Send to family/friend” to avoid fees on either end.
morgansmom—needs help towards major car repairs and moving to a better environment. $8000 4155 Moving ahead with the motor mounts. Current medical issues do take priority • Visit the KoFi page to see some cool artwork & donate! • PayPal: wingednag at gmail dot com.
Falcon Hawke—could use some help right now and has a goal of $10,000 8300 5620 5470 5370±. Here’s the diary. • PayPal—celtichart1 at aol dot com • Venmo—celtichart1 at aol dot com • Zelle celtichart1 at aol dot com www.gofundme.com/…
njm5000 hasn’t heard from Falcon Hawke since 1/17. Is anyone in contact with him? The list is updated with the donations on GFM only. Here’s hoping that he’s OK.
anotherdemocrat—has a diary up: Anyone know where I can find a 2nd job? She’s in Austin and is suddenly $24000 in debt, mainly due to an HOA assessment! From the diary: “So, $24,000 is more money than I can ask even a big community like Daily Kos to donate. I have a venmo: at Becky-Helton, Cashapp: $B3ckyHelt0n, and GoFundMe, if anyone wants to help with next month’s payments but for a big total like that, I need a 2nd job. My day job is M-F from 8-5, so it would have to be evenings & weekends.” and “Skills: writing, 20+ years of customer service work, super reliable…” Kosmail, if you can help.
Coloradowoodsman. needs help to save his home. The time has been extended a little and the money is somewhat reduced. GFM or PayPal We can bring this home. Increasing the immediate need to $7500 2738 to make up for emergency Vet expenses last week.
BMScott posted this:
“Christopher's house burned down early in February. An insurance dispute has made it difficult to access his funds for necessary items, so we're trying to keep him and his family sheltered, fed, and clothed. PLEASE help however you can.”
There is a GoFundMe that currently stands at $10,770 $11,045 $12,294 $12,439$12,745 $12,770 $13,288 $13,416 $13,491 $13,591 $13,816 $13,841$14,835 towards a revised goal of $20,000.
jtg—needs $1,000 150 to get started on dental work that will total quite a bit more.
• GoFundMe • KoFi • PayPal• Patreon • Amazon Pet Supplies •
Kos Katalogue 2022 is here—please Kosmail BeadLady if you have corrections or additions.
Morgansmom has multiple needs. Day-to-day, she and her son share a single car with questionable fitness for the road. Tires. Front end. Emissions that didn’t pass inspection. She’s at the point of just putting out fires and not able to address the total need because donations are slow about coming in, and she’s been on the list for a while because of that. But there’s an even bigger problem. She lost a kidney to cancer, and now the cancer has recurred in the second kidney. She needs transportation to the center where her cancer is being treated. This isn’t a small thing, either. My daughter’s mother-in-law is receiving cancer treatment, so I know what’s involved, and it’s enormous. Morgansmom’s priorities are: reliable daily transportation, special transportation to the medical care facility, and money to move herself and her son to a cleaner/safer environment. I know we can do this. Current need is $4155. PayPal: wingednag at gmail dot com
Coloradowoodsman’s goal has been increased, due to an emergency surgery for his dog, by an additional $1000. He’s in immediate danger of losing his home, the sanctuary for his rescued animals and the home for his wife, whose health is deteriorating. He got behind in his mortgage when he lost his job just as COVID was first hitting us and isn’t able to find another, only seasonal summer work. His mortgage was sold, and he will meet with the new company on Saturday to see if they’ll allow him to make arrangements to catch up. They may—or they may not. Many companies prefer to foreclose. As njm5000 said in compiling the list, “We can bring this home.” $2738 is doable. With the short time, PayPal is preferable to Go Fund Me because it’s far easier and quicker to access the funds. GFM can really drag out the withdrawal process, and Saturday isn’t that far away. GFM or PayPal
And now I want to address a sneaky money thief: application fees. Rental properties now often charge a significant amount, $70-120, non-refundable, just to fill out an application. It doesn’t take more than 2 or 3 of these to deplete funds, with nothing to show for it at the end. I can’t begin to imagine the justification for this, but it’s a new reality. So people asking for money to relocate to rental property have an exceptional need.
Then there’s food assistance, or SNAP. That’s administered by the states, but overall, the amount has been greatly reduced, now that COVID is “over” (/s, but it’s official policy now, I guess). So people who were in need before are desperate now. And a word or two about food pantries. They aren’t all the same. It can depend on your area. My mother volunteered at her church pantry. They gave each registered family three days’ worth of meals for each person in the household. (Don’t you dare think my mother did this from any goodness of heart.) A friend volunteered at her church’s pantry. They picked out “some” food for each family, but not measured in meals-per-person, just whatever the volunteer thought they should have, with no attempt at balanced meals. One of our Kossacks went to her local pantry. For her once-a-month request for herself and her son, she was given a jar of peanut butter and a sleeve (not the whole box; just a sleeve) of saltine crackers. It can be a reliable source for some, or it can be a waste of time. The gas to drive probably cost as much as or more than peanut butter and a fourth of a box of crackers. But even at its best, it isn’t meant as a total food source.
It costs more to be poor. Guaranteed. I figured that out on my own, more than half a century ago. No cash reserve for stocking up or bulk buying. Late fees. Overdraft fees. Interest going out but not coming in. And every small extra need is a crisis.
These community members need a little push to get over a hump. Maybe it’s an unexpected medical bill. Maybe there’s a life situation that has come up and requires resources beyond regular income. Maybe they just got behind and need help getting their footing again. For whatever reason they need help, Wednesdays are the day the Street Prophets diary focuses on those needs. Maybe you’ve skipped over this weekly diary, thinking the little you can give won’t make a difference. But you don’t have to meet a person’s entire need. If we all join together, the small amounts each person can contribute will add up to enough to make a difference in someone’s life. Even $2 or $5 or $10, when added to the mickle that others give, can be all that it takes.
When sending via PayPal, be sure to select “Send to family/friend” to avoid fees on either end. Be aware, both donor and recipient, that GFM not only charges fees to recipients and asks donors to contribute to their organization, but also money received through that platform is treated as taxable income. You will receive a form 1099 and it’s reported to the IRS. If you are requesting help through GFM, also be aware that there can be delays in accessing the money.
These people are our own. Please do what you can.
If helping financially isn’t the right choice for you at this time, you can still help. Tip and rec the diary so it stays visible. Share on social media: Twitter, Facebook, whatever platform you use, to bring the attention of others outside our daily readers. And offer words of encouragement to people who are struggling. It can be scary to be struggling, and it can feel lonely. This can happen to any of us. Today it isn’t me in need. If it isn’t you, either, please see what you can do to help.
Kos Katalogue—It’s currently being revised, so if you have changes/additions/corrections, let Cathy M or Bead Lady know.
(Just an aside for people who write diaries. When adding tags, capitalize each word, even the small ones. That makes it readable by text readers, for the visually impaired.)
