I'll Get By With A Little Help From My Friends: Blogging Til Homeless, Day 31

I got a Twitter DM this morning from Thefre, whom many of you know as @ThiefKnight on Twitter. He's the person who does the fabulous Minecraft Chibi avatar drawings, lovely sketches, and a multitude of sekrity sekrit stuffs.

He said, “Check this out.”

So I checked, and there was Chibi Thefre, Teddanator and I, straight off of Thefre's private server, set up to be 3-D printed at Shapeways, sooooo CUTE!

Then was the awesome part.

Thefre was doing this to help me fundraise for the camper! Here's the incentive:

Donate $100 or more, and you will receive your Minecraft avatar, rendered in Chibi style by Thefre and produced as a 2 x 2.4 x 0.7 inch 3-D sculpture!

1. Donate $100 or more by clicking the “Donate” button below.
   
   
2. In the “Message” section on PayPal, include your full name, Minecraft IGN (In-Game-Name), and the address that you'd like your avatar sculpture shipped.

Thanks to Thefre, now donators can have a little something in return for helping me keep warm and safe while homeless.

Thank you all!

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Donations are now at $357, and I've tried contacting the owners of the less expensive campers on Craigslist. Haven't received any responses as of yet, and some of the ads are gone when you search on the site. Please pass this blog along, and donate if you can. I appreciate everything the community is doing-THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!

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"What Can We Do?" Blogging Til Homeless: Day 32

"What Can We Do?"

Many people have been asking what they can do to help, and I have to confess, until now, I've been at a total loss as to what to say. All I could think about was that I didn't really have a definition of what I needed, except the extremely difficult “free place to live for an indeterminate time period until I get disability”. That definition was as unhelpful as anything.

Seems that I was forgetting my personal history. You see, there is something definite that would help. First, let me give you a small update.

I have places where I can park the van, which is awesome. This will prevent me from having to park in a box store parking lot at night, or alternatively parking somewhere on a back road, neither of which is very safe. I've got three places so far where I can park the van on private property (and one place to actually stay indoors, but is very far away). Thank you everyone – you know who you are!

Then somebody sent me an email that jogged my memory, and I can't believe I hadn't thought of this sooner:

Why not live in a camper?

For approximately four years, I had traveled up and down the east coast, vending at outdoor festivals and shows, staying IN MY CAMPING TRAILER. It was cheap, and it was safe. Most important of all, being disabled, I can even set one up.

People have been asking how much it would cost to set me up in an apartment for a few months, and between deposit, rent and utilities, it would cost thousands; and is an unrealistic, temporary solution. I have NO idea when my court date is. My disability attorney says it is on the docket but has not been scheduled yet. This is the Federal Government, remember, so I could easily be looking at another year *shudder*. An apartment would be no solution, since I have no income. The money would run out, and I'd be in the same position as I'm in today.

A camper can change this.

Living in a camper would also allow me to rotate where I'm staying, so that I wouldn't be a burden on any one person for too long. It would allow me to leave what possessions I have left in a safe place when I need to use the van (rather than hauling everything around wherever I go). It would allow me to actually sleep in a bed, rather than on a bunch of blankets on the floor of the van. It would allow me to keep some of my personal possessions, so I wouldn't have to start over completely when the time comes. It would essentially give me a free place to live, as long as I needed, until court.

My van is already set up to tow a camper. I still have all of my camping equipment: propane lanterns, stove, etc.

I'm terrible at asking for things for myself. Absolutely terrible. Fundraising for Mark was so different, and easy. I always find it easier to do things for other people, rather than asking for myself.

But I have to change that. I need help. A used camper costs anywhere from $6-or-$700 to about $3500, depending on what's available, and will need inspection, registration and insurance.

Can you help? I hate asking, but this is something definite, something that will actually HELP. If you can, there is a Donate button at the bottom of this post.

Here's some of the things I've seen on Craigslist. I don't know what is still available, since it's pointless to ask unless I can actually purchase one:

http://richmond.craigslist.org/rvs/2776779085.html

http://richmond.craigslist.org/rvs/2774543513.html

http://richmond.craigslist.org/rvs/2773139070.html

http://richmond.craigslist.org/rvs/2760007874.html

http://richmond.craigslist.org/rvs/2758197424.html

http://richmond.craigslist.org/rvs/2757089352.html

Thanks for listening, and thanks for your support.

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Thanks to donators, the van repairs are now covered! Many, many thanks!

Have a wonderful New Year!

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Blogging Til Homeless, Day 32: I'll be Home for Christmas

This is a reprint of a story that I wrote in 2008, and it's a true story, a story of what I used to do, and a story of hope and renewal. I need a little of that right now.

I'll Be Home For Christmas

I was lost, dirty and hungry, wandering the streets of Richmond in August of 2008. In my travels, I happened upon a convenient store and thought I'd hit the dumpster to see if there was anything worth scavenging. Jackpot! A half-eaten burger, wrapped back up and still slightly warm. As I gently unwrapped the burger, I noticed a group of people staring at me, so I wolfed the burger down. I wasn't gonna let anyone take my find, no way, no how. It's been hard enough fighting off the stray dogs that try to take any food I come across. Well, I sneaked a look back at the folks that had stared, and one man was slowly coming toward me with his hand held out. In his hand was another burger. I could smell it-oh, man. As he neared, I realized that he was offering the burger to me.

Now, I can take care of myself. Don't get any ideas that I can't. Yeah, I hadn't had a chance at bath in a while. Yeah, my hair was greasy and snarled. Yeah, I was a little…well, honestly MORE than a little rank, but I didn't need any handouts. I could take care of myself.

I took the hamburger.

While I was eating, the man spoke to me in a gentle voice, like I was afraid of him-HA. I fear no one. I've lived on the streets and taken care of myself for a couple of months now. I can handle myself in any situation.

Well, this guy, he started describing a place where I could go where, if I wanted, I could maybe get a bath, three squares and a place to sleep. Like I said, I can handle myself, but lately it's been getting harder to eat because I have a few rotten teeth, and some big dogs have chased me away from the best dumpsters. I thought I'd give it a chance. If I didn't like it, I could always leave. No fences or doors were going to stop me if I wanted out.

I ended up at the City shelter, where I got cleaned up and fed. Not too bad a deal, actually. Better yet, I met somebody. No, no, not like that-she's a friend, get it? She took me home and put me up in her own house-how many people would do that for somebody they don't know anything about? I coulda run off with the silverware or something. But I wouldn't do that, 'cause I can take care of myself just fine. My friend made sure that I had enough to eat, a place to sleep and all the hot water for baths that I could dream of. It's pretty good to feel clean and fed after being dirty and hungry for awhile.

My friend also helped me get to the doctor to get my teeth (and everything else) looked at. When she found out the getting my bad teeth pulled was expensive, well, something unusual happened.

It seems that there are LOTS of people like my friend out there. Y'know, people who help out. Now, I haven't had much experience with the Internet, but she went and typed up my doctor's recommendation to a bunch of her online friends, and they chipped in to take care of my doctor bill-imagine that! People that didn't even know me!

After awhile, my friend began to talk to me about getting on with my life, and having a home of my own. Y'know, she can't help but one at a time, so she couldn't help anyone else while she was helping me. Well, I thought that was it-she was gonna throw me out, but that's all right. I can take care of myself just fine.

Well, that's not what she meant. She told me that I wasn't gonna have to live on the street anymore, and that those Internet friends of hers were looking for a place that I could live. Like, live there forever and not have to eat out of dumpsters anymore. Well I reckon those dumpster burgers weren't so bad, but I was getting kinda used to being in a home, y'know? With regular meals and being clean and all, I was feeling like a regular girl, and I was starting to want more for myself, too.

Christmas was coming, and that's when my friend said her Internet buddies had found a home for me. In Connecticut, with a couple that saw my picture and asked for me. Asked for ME! Imagine that…

Tomorrow I get to take a road trip, and I will be leaving my friend forever. She's packed up my favorite things to take with me, and she tells me that I will be making lots of new friends at the end of my journey. I'll be in my new home for Christmas. I never thought much of Christmas before, but now I am getting a precious gift-new friends, a new home and a new life. I'm never gonna have to take care of myself or be all alone again. And maybe, just maybe…I can take care of my new friends, too.

Brooke

Stray German Shepherd Dog

Last Hope Safe Haven Rescue

Christmas 2008

Blogging 'Til Homeless, Day 33: Bittersweet

“Stuff is replaceable.”

I've heard and said this many a time over the last few years of slowly getting rid of a lifetime's accumulation of personal possessions. I've been pretty ruthless in purging, throwing out, selling, just plain getting rid of “stuff”.

Today was HARD.

Today has been about a week in preparation, mostly mental. The physical wasn't bad. I had a prelude yesterday when I sold over a thousand dollars worth of furniture for $270. But today, my Mom came and took away some of my precious things, things with memories attached, things that are really, REALLY hard to give up.

A gargoyle, made of cement and heavy as stone; I bought him when I first started the huge project that was the English garden at my cottage. He surveyed the entire 5-year process from his place under the azalea bush next to the steps, and kept me company through the long, pleasant hours of digging, planting, weeding and relaxing. He also watched as the whole house was transformed from ugly duckling to jewel-box cottage, and surveyed the annual installation (and agonizing take-down) of the 40,000 Christmas lights.

A rough chunk of black glass as big as my head, given to me by a dear friend that I haven't seen in years, as a congratulatory present for the success of my business. This piece has adorned every professional office I've ever inhabited.

Two simple wooden handmade bowls, turned from the wood of the pecan tree that used to stand in my backyard. Hurricane Isabel destroyed the tree, which predated my 1937 cottage, and in return for the wood I gave him, the bowls were given to me as a thank you gift from the hands of that same craftsman.

My aunt June paints. She has the lovliest style, and her paintings glow with an inner light, quite similar to that of Kincaid, but she actually stopped painting before he started. I'm proud to own two of her paintings: one, a little fluffy dog, was actually painted for my birth; the other, a beagle that was my uncle Bud's favourite painting, given to me for Christmas just last year.

It was hard to see Mom, and Billy, and to see them taking my memories away. It made it harder still that Jackie hovered, but at least she withdrew when asked so I could have private time with my family. They may not be able to house me, but they love me, and will protect and care for some of my precious memories.

As they drove away with small pieces of my heart, needless to say, there were tears.

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As usual, that you for all the support. Sorry that I haven't been updating daily - sometimes I just cannot with the chaos of sorting out the house coupled with the pain of my disability. Thanks to everyone who asked how I was doing, those with words of encouragement, and those who donated. I am so proud to have you as friends.

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Christmas Good News! Blogging Til Homeless: Day 36

Hope you all had the merriest of Christmases and are still enjoying a wonderful holiday season!

I had a few pieces of really great news come my way over the last couple of days, so I thought I'd share.

First, my Mom and her husband Billy have taken my dog, Clapton, and have promised never to sell him, so I won't have to say goodbye to him forever. Billy came to pick him up on Christmas Eve, and yes, I cried a LOT. But he loves the farm, and I'll be able to see him whenever I can visit. I don't have to let my boy go permanently. I know I'd already told you he was going with Jodi (and he would have had a fabulous home with her), and I wrote Jodi apologizing for the sudden change. Haven't heard back yet, I hope she understands.

Secondly, I have a couple of places to go. No, not shelters, but places where I can park my van and sleep in it safely. I'll still be homeless, but I WILL be relatively safe. Hooray!

I will be moving into the van on January 31^st, and the van still needs a new tie rod and two new tires, so I'll be trying to raise that somehow.

Things seem to have calmed down around here, so thanks for all of the support. I couldn't have made it through the last week without all of the encouragement and well wishes from all of you.

Sorry for the brevity of this one, as I'm still extremely ill and chugging Nyquil like a BAWSSS.

Have a wonderful New Year!

Due to requests, I'm adding a donation button to these particular posts for folks that wish to donate. Thank you for all your help!

It Just gets Stranger and Stranger

I have just been verbally ordered by my roommate, Jackie, to remove the previous blog post under the threat that it will be turned over to her lawyer for harassment.


The definition of harassment, from the Free Online Law Dictionary:

harassment (either harris-meant or huh-rass-meant) n. the act of systematic and/or continued unwanted and annoying actions of one party or a group, including threats and demands. The purposes may vary, including racial prejudice, personal malice, an attempt to force someone to quit a job or grant sexual favors, apply illegal pressure to collect a bill, or merely gain sadistic pleasure from making someone fearful or anxious. Such activities may be the basis for a lawsuit if due to discrimination based on race or sex, a violation on the statutory limitations on collection agencies, involve revenge by an ex-spouse, or be shown to be a form of blackmail ("I'll stop bothering you, if you'll go to bed with me"). The victim may file a petition for a "stay away" (restraining) order, intended to prevent contact by the offensive party. A systematic pattern of harassment by an employee against another worker may subject the employer to a lawsuit for failure to protect the worker. (See: harass, sexual harassment)

Copyright © 1981-2005 by Gerald N. Hill and Kathleen T. Hill. All Right reserved.

Nope, the definition doesn't fit.


All I did was post her own words, that she herself had actually previously posted to the blog. I called her no names, did not attack her, just spoke of her actions, and actually agreed with her right to evict me.


Update: Well, I've just been screamed at and called a manipulative bitch, and now the police are supposedly being called to remove me.


I can't find that I care about the "stuff" any more. I just need a safe place to stay.


We'll have to see how this plays out.


Methinks someone has trouble with the truth. 

Due to requests, I'm adding a donation button to these particular posts for folks that wish to donate. Thank you for all your help!

"And the Truth Will Set You Free..." BTH: Day 38

Blogging Til Homeless: Day 38

“And the Truth Will Set You Free”...on the Street

I really debated telling you all this, because I hate airing dirty laundry in public, but as it has bearing on what is going on with all this, I probably should. If you dislike drama, stop right here.

When my roommate Jackie told me that her unemployment has run out, and that we would both have to leave, SHE WAS LYING. Her unemployment had NOT run out. And she was not leaving.

I found out tonight that SHE is evicting me. Oh, well. She has the right. No matter that we've been best of friends for years, and that I supported her for seven of them, paid for her divorce, bought her two cars, etc...

Yeah, I'm bringing up the money. Because apparently, that is what the whole thing is all about.

See, when Jackie told me that “we” were going to have to leave, she expected my mother to cough up some kind of cash to keep us here. The fact that Mom is broke and can do no such thing never crossed her mind. My family (as it is) cannot take me in, either, as there is no room.

See, this explains why Jackie went absolutely nuts last night and screamed at me that I was a “fucking bitch” because I sold my dog (who is worth more than a thousand dollars) for only $250 (Well, technically $500, but I won't have an address where they can mail the final check).

Jackie only wanted the money.

She also posted a comment to this very blog, that I removed because it didn't ring true. I decided to post it here, as it shows her hypocrisy. As you will see, in the end, she's asking for money...for herself, and this ambiguous “new roommate”. Highlights, bold and underline are mine. Poor formatting, misspelling and bad grammar remain original.

HecticOne has left a new comment on your post "“But I Don't Understand, How Can This Happen?”": 

Unfortunately all this had to go down at Xmas time.I of course feel worse because I have kidney stones and I have a virus that has run rampid like a wild fire and I am in constant pain. I have been at the hospital back and forth having tests run for three days and they say they have found things wrong with me and it is frightening.I just happen to be Kristal's room mate.What I want to say here, is that it is not that I don't care at all about any of this.In fact,I have been making calls and trying to get help as I can't physically handle all of the stress and the toll this madness has taken on my body.Not to mention that there is no help financially as I am waiting to win a major lawsuit settlement and my attorney just happens to be the same attorney as Kristal's and also the land lady.The sad thing is this land lady has some bad history.You would think that if your client (Kristal) lands in the hospital for an emergency,the attorney would be caring enough to return your text message or your phone calls or an email.Unfortunately this attorney does not give a crap about her clients and it showed when I finally got the woman on the phone to inquire to get some answers for Kristal, she could not answer me and she just hung the phone up on me.I told Kristal it is time to move on and find someone who is going to help her.I wish I could help kristal but everything I have tried to do has just been a failure.People do not care anymore.If only someone could donate some funds to keep the lights and the water running instead of seeing the cut off notices.At least so we can stay under one roof for about 4 more months to get thru this,then maybe we should see the light at the end of the tunnel. We just need some financial help and the gov't is not going to extend my un -employment benefits.Therefore I have to find a job and perhaps get a room mate to move in here to help cover the bills so I can stay here for awhile.If there is anything anyone can do,please by all means give a shout,shoot an email call us on the phone.Any help is truly appreciated.Thank You.Jackie 

Posted by HecticOne to The Crow and the Pitcher at December 21, 2011 2:41 PM

The truth comes out in the end. Jackie's asking for money for herself, since I'm the one being evicted. By her. Nice. At least now I know the truth.

Funnily, she's also trashing my attorney/landlady, who is supposed to be Jackie's on-again.off-again best friend. I hope Jean sees this, I really do. Jackie says “all her friends” read the blog, so hi, Laura! Make sure Jackie tells you the truth! You should know, I had money, and contributed to everything here up until the winter of 2010, so Jackie hasn't “paid for everything for three years”. We haven't lived here for three years, as we moved in October of 2009. Get your facts straight - remember, you're only getting one side of the story.

For those of you that don't know, I once counted Laura as my best friend, but she was one of the ones that dropped me like a hot rock when I became further disabled and moved to the wrong side of town. C'est la vie. I can't put the time into RL friendships as I used to, the pain I'm in doesn't allow it. Jackie's told me that Laura made her a spreadsheet that showed I owe Jackie $19,000 (wow, for a year's time?), which Jackie upped to $21,000 when she spoke to me tonight. Wow, that's more than Jackie's ever taken home in a year! (/sarcasm...well, is it entirely sarcastic if it's true?)

Jackie is also saying that I must immediately go get an inpatient mental evaluation, which would leave me unable to protect my interests at the house, including the arrangements for my dog, Clapton. Of course, Jackie says she will be more than happy to handle that...suppose she wants the money? She also told me that my attorney is insisting this as well, which would be a HUGE breach of client confidentiality on my attorney's part. Jackie has a history of trying this, as she actually had her ex-husband committed, and has mentioned this to me several times before (my analyst said that it was ridiculous idea). The timing seems kind of strange, doesn't it? Wouldn't it be better to do this AFTER I'm homeless, when I need somewhere to stay, rather than squander the time when I could be winding up my affairs? Or does she just want access to my assets, meager as they are?

Some of you have donated, but as you know, there is NO donation information on this blog, because money will not help my particular problem, which is finding a free place to live until I go to court. It would take a HUGE amount of money to find me a place where there would be someone to help take care of me, which is what I need. I can literally not survive on my own due to my disability. (Edit: This has changed due to the amount of people ASKING that a donation button be placed on the site. Donators, thank you very much!)

Jackie does have the right to evict me, I'm not arguing that. The problem I have is the way it's been done, with the threats, abuse, the statements of how much I owe her when we've never had a formal agreement after I stopped renting to her when we lived at my house, the screaming, the smirking, and the statements that she will have her friends here, ARMED, to prevent me from removing furniture that she is using that belongs to me. The latter effectively prevents me from getting any help whatsoever to remove my belongings, since I can't ask anyone to come into a situation like that just to move furniture for me. I cannot move anything myself, so my hands are tied. I have been told, however, to expect a formal 30-day eviction notice. This is fine, as it is required by Virginia Landlord Tenant Residential Act, 55-248.37.

Yeah, I do sound bitter, but I believe I have the right. After a eight-year relationship, I would have hoped for a considerate discussion along the lines of “I can't take care of you anymore, and I really need you to move out so I can get a roommate to help with the bills.”, instead of a pack of lies, threats and manipulation.

I find myself completely sickened by someone for whom I used to care about very much.


Edit: (Later) To add to the insult of the lies, now Jackie is claiming that she owns all of my personal property, and can confiscate everything in order to pay "back rent", where we never had a rental agreement. So there goes anything I might have been able to get for my furniture and appliances.


To the folks that donated: No worries, Jackie isn't getting any of that money. It's nowhere near enough to satisfy her anyway, but it might get me a room for a couple nights!

Due to requests, I'm adding a donation button to these particular posts for folks that wish to donate. Thank you for all your help!