I am a 49-year-old woman who is raising my 8 year-old granddaughter by myself. My ex-husband walked out two years and two months ago, leaving me a full-time student with no job and no income to run off with his girlfriend. Though I was awarded $1200 monthly for three years when we divorced, I have only in the last six weeks begun to receive the $280 per week he is to pay me, and the arrearages are over $19,000. I inherited some money two months after he left, as did my mother. She promised me she would see me through the next two years of school, which would have given me an Associates Degree and the capability to test for my certification as a sign language interpreter.
However, her health took a turn for the worse and she never went home after her last hospitalization. Nursing home care is so expensive, her money ran out about 5 months ago, and I had to quit school with only two semesters to go to finish my training. Last October, my 26 year old daughter and her "boyfriend" stole everything I owned of value, including over $43,000 of jewelry that belonged to me, my mother, and heirloom pieces that had been in the family for generations. My unreimbursed loss after insurance paid off was $39,500 and only about 5 pieces of jewelry have been recovered in local pawn shops and back in my possession. These items represented my "cushion" of security as they were liquidatable assets that could have supported me if I had sold them. They are now gone.
I have a mortgage, a car payment, utilities, and credit card payments to make and no income of any kind. I have not worked outside the home since 1999, and haven't been able to since I have had to raise my granddaughter since the day she was born. My daughter has been in and out of jail and after what she did last year, is no longer a part of my life. The baby has no one but me, since her daddy signed over his rights, and her papaw took off. I am the only adult that hasn't turned their back on her and I now have no way to support her. She needs security desperately, but she won't have a home, her school and friends, or the ability to play soccer if something doens't happen soon. I can't afford daycare to go look for a job, and being over 40 and not having been in th workplace for over 8 years, reality is that I won't find a decent paying job quickly if at all, even though I am highly skilled in administrative and accounting fields and am more intelligent than most, but lack that college degree that somehow means "smart" to so many people in the workforce. My years of experience make me overqualified for many positions, so the cons list grows while the pros list still waits to get started.
I don't want charity but I do need money to live on and need it now. If I could just get enough to make it through the next 3-4 months without worrying about losing the house or the car, I could beat the streets and find a way to support myself. However, at this point, my back is against the wall and there is no flexibility and it just all came crashing down NOW.
Please could somebody help me? For many out there, it would be no more than some of their tax-deductible charitable donations, but it would mean the difference in an 8-year-old's future and very possible the rest of her life, mentally and physically, and it would mean we wouldn't have to live on the streets somewhere. I can't do that. With some time, I can turn everything around. However, to do that, I need money. Please help me. Please help us.
