If you donāt know me already, my name is Ship. Iām a disabled, trans, single parent of an autistic preschooler. In January of 2015, ActionTot and I moved back in with my widowed mother to get out of an abusive home. Because I canāt work, weāre currently depending on her social security/disability check to get us through the month. We receive no financial assistance from my husband.
My motherās house is beginning to fall apart. Our car needs a new engine. It feels like every time we get one thing fixed, something else needs replacing. I would go out and get a job if I was physically capable, but Iām not. Besides having to take care of ActionTotāheās a loving, adorable, energetic handfulāI have intractable epilepsy and PTSD, in addition to generalized anxiety and being on the spectrum, myself. Mom doesnāt work because sheās had several mini-strokes, in addition to severe migraines.
Life is stressful. Even though all three of us are currently insured, we still have medications to pay for. My psychiatrist doesnāt accept insurance, at all, so every visit is an out-of-pocket expense. ActionTot has multiple therapies to attend per week; between the three of us, we use the car frequently, and gas and maintenance arenāt exactly cheap. I receive food assistance, but that only covers ActionTot and myself. With the Trump administration bound and determined to kill the poor, Mom and I are constantly terrified that weāre going to lose all of the social programs that we desperately need to survive.
I feel like Iām begging, but I donāt know how else to ease the financial burden beyond asking for your help. If youāre able to, there are several ways that you can do so.
Purchase something from our familyās Amazon wishlist. Primarily, these are incidentals (shampoo, toothpaste, laundry detergent, etc), small appliances, and clothes and therapy toys for ActionTot.
Send me a tip via Ko-fi. This is the money I use to buy what I need for myself. Right now, Iām saving up for a good pair of shoes. (It also helps fuel my writing, and I let myself occasionally buy small things when I reach therapy goals.)
Join Swagbucks using my referral link. I use Swagbucks as my search engine and earn points for free, then trade those in for Amazon giftcards. Iāve never paid for anything on that site, and all I do is use it like Google.
I know how annoying it can be to see posts like this, and I never thought Iād be writing one, but my family needs help.Ā Youāre awesome for not just scrolling by. Thank you so much for reading. I appreciate your time. <3
