Some of you may know me from my Friday diaries “A Breath of Fresh Air” (probably not too many of you). I do political free diaries about good news and the “helpers” who make that good news possible.  When I joined Daily Kos in 2016, I found a helper immediately inside the Village: bfitzinAR. Every new person who found their way to the Village was afforded the same courtesy and helpful interaction. She helped me learn to navigate, build up mojo and, eventually, become a weekly diarist.
I am often reminded about how important it is to offer a helping hand, when you can. That “There but for the grace of God, go I.” isn’t just a cliche. Without warning, at any given time, a catastrophe can happen to anyone. An accident can stop the income from coming in. Where once we were doing ok, we are now floundering. In the United States, many are a paycheck away from being homeless. I’d like to introduce you to two such folks and ask you, if you can, to help them navigate this rough patch that they’ve found themselves in.
MaureenMower (Kos member since 2013)
Just an anecdote before starting on this part… When I was a young adult, I thought I’d go to nursing school since it was something that didn’t require four years of college. Two things made me change my mind: draining an abscess and wound debridement. They are that bad. Unfortunately for Maureen, the second one is part of her daily life.
At this point, Maureen has been dealing with an infection on her leg for at least 6 months, and despite being on several different antibiotics (oral and topical) for nearly all of that time, there’s been no improvement.  Currently she’s being seen at a wound care clinic three times a week, where they do things you don’t even want to know about.  Thankfully, they give her a shot to numb the area somewhat before cleaning.  The other four days a week, Maureen is doing it at home. With no numbing shot. With peroxide to clean it out. The pain is unbearable. She says she has clamped down on a wooden spoon to stop herself from screaming. Eventually, she will need surgery. That will be another obstacle she will need help overcoming.
Maureen has checked out every link and website that she could find for help. Either those services (cash/rent help) do not exist (at least for childless adults), or she doesn't qualify (she’s not 60 yet, nor has her application for SSD been approved, so she hasn’t been “certified” as disabled), or there’s some other roadblock.
Basically, she’s already getting the only services available — Medicaid and food stamps.  For everything else, she’s on her own as far as the state is concerned. Â
Her immediate financial needs are: $180 for February. PayPal is moeloe1126 at aol dot com
jtg (Kos member since 2005)
”Mr. Green, Mr. Green! Are you going to be our teacher today?” jtg hears this a lot. He is a well loved and popular substitute teacher in several school districts. Unfortunately, substitute teaching has neither the stability or perks (paid sick leave, option to be paid every month) of full time teaching and he doesn’t earn enough to meet all his living expenses at this time. This has led to him having to supplement his income with contributions from friends and allies via Paypal and GoFundMe.
jtg has had several health problems over the past years (going back to his cancer surgery) including several serious infections in his back and feet that have restricted his ability to work. Unfortunately, if you include multiple bouts of pneumonia in the past few years, and, possibly, the beginnings of the flu, it’s been a rough road. These illnesses are things that can’t be avoided and have caused him some severe hardships.
He has already begun submitting applications for intern teaching positions (a program that will allow him to teach full time while getting his teacher credentials). If he doesn’t get hired as an intern teacher, he may become a “super sub” which would give him a substantially higher income. He won’t be rich, but he won’t have to periodically plead for help to pay for his living expenses.
His immediate financial needs are: $900 for February, and the likely probability that he will need another $600 in April (it’s possible he will need some help in the summer months).Â
jtg does not count on DKos to make a living but these contributions are part of what is getting him through a very turbulent part of his life while transitioning from being his Dad’s caregiver to finding a career as a 58-year-old man.Â
Paypal (James at JamesThomasGreen.com)
GoFundMe - https://www.gofundme.com/...
If you don’t have anybody special to buy for today, why not give a valentine gift to these two? I know they’d cherish it. ❤️💜🧡💛💚💙