Please take the time to read this post.
Hello my DU family, as July fast approaches, I am here again hat in hand asking for your help to cover my July living expenses. Please take the time to read this entire post.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-john-mckusick-overcome-health-and-financial-struggles
Most of us have been protected from the ravages of poverty to the point of forgetting how debilitating it really is. It is far too easy to take where we are for granted, forgetting how much impact the cost of a simple value meal can have on someone's life . That $10-$12 can feed someone in poverty for a couple of days. It can help keep me connected through my cellphone, ($60) a month due to bad service area almost requiring T-Mobile in my rural area. It can help pay for the basic Internet ($40) I need to not disappear from the face of the earth. I receive food stamps for now, and that helps keep food on the table but with prices going up like crazy, it's gotten harder and harder to stretch that $291 per month. Recovering from a quadruple bypass has forced dietary changes that make buying quality food much more expensive as I really try to stay away from processed crap and eat a little healthier.
What is never covered are things like cleaning supplies, hygiene products, soap, shampoo, toothpaste etc...
Trying to find a working vacuum cleaner at Goodwill is impossible because they won't let you test them.
Not having a car means giving gas money to people who are nice enough to give me a ride that takes their whole day because my specialist is 75 miles away. That 150 mile round trip costs about $25 in gas every trip, not to mention a cheap lunch as a thank you.
I write this because it is so painful to experience my quality of life gradually slipping away as one decision after another have forced sacrifices that no one should have to make. Things like wearing the same clothes again and again to save on laundry soap, taking one less shower a week, not pushing for the cardiac rehab to start because I have no idea how I'd get there etc... All of these things save money, but they have a much more insidious effect too. They chip away at whatever self esteem is left over after the constant pain I'm in has demoralized me already.
That your generosity is what's keeping me from being on the street defines by itself how bad things are.
I really struggle in writing these posts because because being forced to live in poverty while I wait for the government to make the correct decision drags on and on is such a horrible way to have to live. I'm writing this at 1:20a.m. CST because one of the main consequences of poverty for me is anxiety and worry. I've had issues with insomnia my whole life, and the one common denominator throughout every incidence is stress/fear/anxiety.
The feelings of helplessness that the SSDIi process exposes us to is an abomination. To be forced into begging for the money to keep a roof over our heads is so emotionally painful and crippling that it's really hard to even ask.
I am halfway to my goal of $1200 for the month of July through the kindness of donors in the last week or so. August and September loom of course, but it's July that begs your kindness and generosity.
I struggle to ask for your help and my struggle only gets harder to try and communicate how grateful I am for your help in ways that truly reflect how impactful you have been in keeping me safe at home as well as being able to keep Petunia and Cuddles fed and housed as well.
Please know that your gift is gratefully received, hoarded like a pirates treasure, and very carefully spent.
You are and have been my literal lifeline my DU family, and please know I try to earn every dollar gifted to me in how I see, experience and treat you and those around me. One of the "benefits" of disability and poverty is I have the time to think, to ponder, to try and do my very best from my place in life.
Love is my guiding light, and yours has more than reinforced that I'm right in this path. Please know I try to let my love shine through in everything I write and do with you and those around me.
Thank you for your love, your kindness, your generosity, and your help. Each is so very important to me as they feed my heart, soul, psyche and yes, my stomach.
For that, for now, I offer my tearful gratitude and love.
Thank you so much for reading, commenting and helping in whatever ways you feel comfortable doing. God Bless.
Love, John
= new reply since forum marked as read
Here for you.
🦋 wordstroken
dollars is a help. Every little bit counts,
I hope many agree with you. 
As a former writing instructor, I find that you are an above average writer. Any chance you might be able to pick up some gig work to help with your needs? I come across videos related to that and other side hustles all the time on FB. Just scroll through their reels. This would be work done on your own time and at your own pace, so there would be no pressure.
It's the talent you displayed in your OP that inspired me to make this suggestion; nothing else....Again, I hope for the very best for you.
