On Saturday, things suddenly got a lot harder for Kossack elenacarlena. After suffering a sudden life-altering medical emergency in December and the subsequent loss of income, elena is now at imminent risk of losing everything she owns — all her possessions accumulated over a lifetime, furniture, exercise equipment, musical instruments, backup computer (essential for a graphic designer) as well as personal and sentimental items representing a life. Her possessions will be auctioned unless we help. She needs a minimum of $796 to pay for 3 months overdue storage unit rental plus late fees by Wednesday, March 7. That’s tomorrow!
Paypal is karlekonsultants at cs dot com.
MATCH CHALLENGE: This is an emergency. To get the donations rolling in fast, Kossack and Villager Mvgal92691 is offering a 1-for-2 $100 challenge. She will match 1 dollar for every 2 dollars donated. That will give elenacarlena a $300 boost towards her total need. We cannot let a match go unmatched, folks, so please donate NOW if you can.
Recs, tips, and reposting to your social media all are essential help as well. It takes a village, and we are that village.
Elenacarlena’s full story is below the fold:
Here is elenacarlena’s story:
Many here know elenacarlena, as well as her kitty cartoon avatar Lee, from the Breaking Pawlitics, series. She is also the cartoonist behind Les Beastiables, which parodies right wing pols with acerbic commentary. Elena was guest cartoonist at Daily Kos at the request of noted cartoonist Eric Lewis whilst he was away helping his favorite political campaign. The result was a temporary series, Aminal Nooz. Elena is also in the Kos Katalogue. She is one of us, and she is no slouch.
Eclectic and amazingly talented, elenacarlena earns her modest living as a cartoonist, designer and design consultant. She also sells products with her designs on Tee Public and Zazzle shop. Besides her artistic endeavors, elena also works as a freelance academic editor, editing college papers, presentations and textbooks.
Ec calls herself a “political commentator” because she has a lot of comments to make. She sees her agenda as calling conservatives out and as building, expanding, and strengthening the middle class through political action. Wheew, that’s a lot of jobs. And a lot of talent. And a lot of caring about others.
It’s tough out there making a living as an artist, but elena was managing. Just before the health crisis struck, ec had made what she believed to be a strategic life move. She relocated across several states, moving into her family’s home to both save money and to be with her aging parents. As elena describes, “I threw all my things, including valuables, into storage.” A couple of hundred dollars a month for the rental unit was far below what she had been paying for rent, so ec had every expectation of easily meeting that obligation from her design income.
Then disaster struck. She was suddenly and unexpectedly overcome with a major health crisis. Elenacarlena herself picks up the story. “As most Kossacks probably know by now, an ambulance was called for me on December 9, when my parents found me unconscious. I went to the ER, was diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis. I hadn't even known I was diabetic! Then they found multiple health problems, most probably because of the untreated diabetes, and I needed surgery.”
That initial health crisis resulted in a three week hospital stay. She was left weak (still undergoing physical therapy), unable to eat or sleep (still on a soft diet after three months), with an esophageal stricture and hiatal hernia that requires additional surgery. The move near family turned out to be important in her recovery, but has not been good for her finances. Instead of building her business as anticipated, she hasn’t been able to work. Plus her out of pocket medical bills were greater than anticipated. She is out of funds and the rental on the storage unit is now three months overdue.
Which brings us back to the current financial crisis. Elenacarlena again picks up the story. “In hindsight, I shouldn't have left items of sentimental value there, but figured I'd always be able to afford a couple hundred a month. I had no idea there was anything wrong with me, but the docs think I probably had diabetes for months and months before I crashed. I am an object lesson regarding why regular doctor check-ups are actually important (I hadn't been for at least 5 years)!
The storage facility knows my situation and was willing to wait, but not any longer. Can DKos folks help me out? I am happy to pay back or pay forward when I get back on my feet. It's a long process, but when through then I will be able to get back to work and take care of my needs.”
Paypal is karlekonsultants at cs dot com.
We are hoping to raise $1000, which would cover the past due amount and give elenacarlena the breathing room of an additional month’s rent. As she heals over the next months (still facing another surgery) and returns to financial self-sufficiency, elenacarlena will definitely pay this forward. Or pay this back if all you can do right now is provided a loan. Yes, she needs this desperately, and yes, she will be able to repay if you can be patient. We prefer to raise the needed funds in donations if we can. However, at this point, even a short term loan would be massively helpful as it would give us a little more breathing time to fundraise here and elsewhere.
$796 is essential right now.
Please help if you can. Recs, tips, comments, reposting, and forwarding to your social media outlets all will help us get the word out.
Thank you so much!
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2018 · 5:38:50 PM +00:00
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Dixiecollie
UPDATE: WOOT. WOOT. WE DID IT — Or rather YOU DID IT.
I am typing through tears right now. Thanks to very very generous folks here, we have met the match, the total emergency need, and the extra month’s rent that elenacarlena needs to be sure she doesn’t fall into this hole again.
The total may still be a bit rough as the gifts are still coming in to PayPal, but by my calculations we are at $1100 + and a few unknown amounts still to calculate.
Thanks for every dollar, rec, tip, repost, retweet, good wishes, and hugs that you sent to elenacarlena. Special thanks to the major donors and to the match challenge that got us started. This is how a community takes care of its own. This is the world as it should be.
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2018 · 6:14:56 PM +00:00
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Dixiecollie
MORE THAN A WIN. Thanks so much to every single one of you. We now have approximately $1300 and growing which meets the emergency plus two months of storage unit rent that will make sure ec doesn’t again fall in a hole.
So, for folks who got here late and are still feeling generous, please go over to the Community Needs List or tomorrow’s Helping Humpday diary (posts at 4pm eastern) and send some of that love and support to some fellow Kossacks who are also facing financial hardships.
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2018 · 8:04:36 PM +00:00
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Dixiecollie
ABOVE AND BEYOND. The.Need.Has.Been.Met. The grand total contributed is over $2000. This will enable ec to save her possessions as well as pay off a credit card going into collections and provide a small safety net for future bills. Now, PLEASE, PLEASE, anyone who is still reading and wants to help, go over to the Community Needs List or tomorrow’s Helping Humpday diary (posts at 4 pm eastern) and send some of that love and support to some fellow Kossacks who are also facing financial hardships.