Keep a roof over Mollie and Andrea’s head

Our lives are about to spiral downward and all I can do is watch and wait. My daughter does not know how serious my financial problems are. She will first be traumatized if we lose our car. My main goal is to keep her feeling secure so she can maintain her excellent grade average and be a happy girl. Losing the car would start the domino effect because soon after I will lose my job due to no transportation. Then everything will crumble including losing our apartment with no place to live. Living paycheck to paycheck all of these years has left us vulnerable. My net income is less than our basic monthly bills. Every time we need dental work or car maintenance or books for school I get behind on bills. It's rough to catch up.

For over 6 years I was a salesperson on straight commission because it was difficult to get a job, despite the fact my skills met the employer's qualifications. One big reason no one hired me was my age. I am now 62.

At 45, after one marriage and several engagements, a break up devastated me. Having a child was something I had wanted my entire adult life. Due to my age it was now or never. It was time to adopt. My life was stable with a job of 12 years, ownership of a nice town home and a good savings and 401K account.

Unfortunately the first adoption of my son, domestically, failed. The case went to the state Supreme Court. The mother has lied about the identity of the father. Her mother wanted the baby so went to the biological father with a pro bono lawyer. Through a private investigator I found he was a dead beat dad of 3 other children (still in his 20's), had gang involvement and lived in a dilapidated trailer with 14 other family members and no air conditioning in south Texas. My son's name was, and still is, Micah and he was a wonderful baby with long dark eyelashes who smiled all of the time. I fought in court for 9 months, spent most of my money (almost $100,000.) and lost in the Supreme Court. For a while the grandmother of some of the father's other children, who testified for me, sent pictures and updates. Their living situation improved considerably. Micah lives in a decent trailer with his father and grandparents. It was devastating for me to give up my 9 month old baby to an uncertain future.

Of course, adopting again was out of the question. But a close friend who has 3 children from China insisted that I should adopt again for the same reasons I did it the first time. While still very depressed she started the adoption paperwork and process. Long story short, by the time China sent me a picture of the beautiful baby girl they had chosen for me I felt better. The trip to China was fantastic and Mollie and I (her name was Lu Nong Qu) bonded immediately. It is 14 years later and we couldn't be happier.

The only issue has been finances. I lost my long term job because of a merger, lost my townhome when the Feds raised the rates an unprecedented 5 times in a year which tripled my ARM mortgage payment and the recession hit so there were no jobs. It took my last $25,000. to adopt Mollie so with no savings I had a black cloud over my head.

The only avenue was a straight commission sales job. After starting at zero, a nice portfolio of customers was built with hard work and persistence. We had moved in with my parents and with the help of a close friend got an apartment. There are constant ups and downs and sacrifices but I have stayed independent.

A little over a year ago I finally landed a decent job with the referral of my Rabbi. The job is exciting and challenging with a fast groaning fin tech company. My salary nets me less than our basic bills but we have health insurance (even though the co-pays aren't affordable) and we live in a small, older apartment. A commission program has reaped enough income to not get too far behind but my employer changed it right after taking away the book of business I had cultivated for 8 months and gave me small accounts that are primarily inactive. So I will cultivate these accounts now. It cut my commissions 80%. There is no income for my auto insurance, a small dental problem (I lost a tooth due to not being able to afford a dentist when the problem was small and still haven't been able to replace it), and there is little money for groceries, gas and living. I am scared to death that everything will spiral down again like they did 12 years ago. Never would I have imagined me being in this condition with a missing tooth worried about having basic auto insurance.

Our furniture is scarce and old, our car is a 2009 and badly needs brakes and maintenance, my clothes are old and out of season, I have gained 40 pounds and we never vacation or do anything extra. My only credit card is at it's limit with a $2,750. balance. Due to a tax refund most monthly bills are caught up. But when I lose auto insurance it will be too risky to drive and the bank who holds my car loan could repossess my car. Then my job is at risk and we will lose the apartment. This is reality not paranoia. This campaign's purpose is to pay the car insurance and for the dentist. If it is successful I will also get a dental implant to replace the missing tooth. If it is very successful my car can get front brakes, the weird noise can be diagnosed and the chemical freon can be added so we have air conditioning in the summer a couple of months away.

My parents are on a fixed income and my rich sister and well off sister will not contribute anything. Two cousins have been generous, my Mom helps as much as she can and our synagogue has been very generous. But there are no resources now so I am reaching out to you to keep a roof over our head. Any assistance will be appreciated and I am grateful for what we do have like our health (although arthritis from stress in my neck is bending me over) and I am so happy to have the best daughter a Mom could want. Your donation will save us now and prevent a catastrophe. This will keep my daughter on track with her studies so that she can get a scholarship at a good college.

Thank you for listening! Please help in any way you can.

Andrea