with joy.
Yesterday I shared my friend Jill’s story with you guys hoping you would help her out a little. Instead, being the wonderful people I argue bitterly about politics with, you did what good, kind, decent people do: you set aside political quarrels and set out to help.
Brief summary: Jill is disabled by fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. She lives disability check to disability check in what she revers to as an RV but what I have since learned is properly called a trailer in a trailer park in Roswell, New Mexico. She shares a one room trailer with her 14 year old son and six dogs (no, I have no idea how there is room for eight beings to share in a trailer).
A gang conflict led to one of the people involved hiding in her trailer park. Since the gang had no idea which trailer this person was in they decided the simplest thing to do was randomly shoot up trailers at midnight when people were asleep in their beds inside said trailers. Jill’s trailer got multiple bullet holes: shower, heater, bedroom window, living room.
She got an RV repair guy who came highly recommended to look at it and he said better to replace than repair. So she set out to raise $7,500.00.
Thing is, when you are poor, your network of friends, neighbors, contacts… well, they’re usually also not so well off. And lots of the people who would give, well, they have bullet holes to deal with in their trailers. So after a month, Jill had raised $450.00 of $7,500.00.
Before posting here I contacted navajo because I wanted to make sure that it was okay to fundraise for a non-Kossack (Jill is, however, a fierce progressive. I have standards). navajo said: GO and I thank her.
Over the last day you guys have raised $1,323.00. Jill is stunned. She’d pretty much resigned herself to repairing the trailer and giving up the idea of trying to make it a Tiny Home On Wheels for taking her sun around the country.
Honestly, she could get a livable used trailer for $3,000 I am told. But I want her to be able to get something nice. Something where her son has privacy and she has privacy. Something where there is a bit of space for lots o’ dogs. And to be blunt, I’m sick of this Calvinist bullshit that poor/disabled people are supposed to suffer. Really? In which Gospel did Jesus say that? ‘Cause I read that stuff and that ain’t at all what the big dude said.
Anyway, let’s be really mean and give her a real reason to cry. Every $20 is a teardrop. I want her current trailer to have water damage from the tears when we are done.
Thank you so very much. Sometimes I think the K in Kos is for Kindness.
Wow, that was cheesy… but kinda true too.