Please help me pay for repairs to my laptop

I have been a graphic designer for over 30 years. I designed many iconic album covers back in the 1980s, was Art Director for the 2nd largest photography magazine in the nation for over 8 years, & a beta tester for Adobe Photoshop for nearly a decade. I have worked exclusively on a freelance basis since 2005, earning enough to maintain a simple but comfortable lifestyle in my native Southern California.

In order to work, to earn money, I need a laptop, ideally my laptop, the one I've invested over $1300 in (purchase price + upgrades, till there was nothing left to upgrade). My laptop has been in the shop following a freak soda accident back in late April. I can't afford to get it out because, without my laptop, I can't work to earn the money I need to pay for the repairs to the laptop.

I purchased a far less expensive, older, white Macbook back in June so that I could continue to do SOME work, take "simple" projects that didn't require all the processing speed & memory that MY laptop has. I couldn't really afford it, but I was confident I could earn back the purchase price within a week or two.

Three days after I bought the little white Macbook, I was carjacked. The laptop, along with my purse, all my keys, & a variety of other items of value were stolen with the car. It set me back CONSIDERABLY. I haven't been in a position to buy another "temporary/make-do" laptop again, and haven't worked in the six months since I put my laptop in the shop, not knowing how I would earn the money to pay for the repairs, just believing a solution would present itself.

It has not.

To compound the problem, I'm running out of time. The repair shop fixed my laptop a LONG time ago. They called me last week to tell me that If I don't make at least a partial payment towards the cost of the repairs by the end of next month (November, 7 full months after I dropped it off to be repaired) that they are simply going to KEEP my laptop to pay for the repairs.

There's NO WAY I'll have ANY money to give to them by the end of November, because I'm not earning any money, because I don't have my laptop. There's that paradox again.

The TOTAL COST of the repairs (including replacement components) is $654.

However, without my means of supporting myself, EVERY penny I can get my hands on goes towards the basic necessities of life, mostly lodging or food. The cost of my day-to-day living has not changed. I just haven't earned any income to speak of, not without a laptop. And I simply do not have any extra money lying around in case of emergency (I already spent it on an emergency), not even $654 to restore my ability to support myself.

• I do not have a credit card. No one will give me one. I don't have "bad" credit. I have "NO" credit. I have NO recent credit history.
• I am the only child of an only child & both of my parents are deceased, so I literally do not HAVE a family on which to fall back.
• None of my friends are in a position to help me (any MORE than they already HAVE BEEN since I stopped being able to earn money to support myself)
• For those of you who do not know me personally, or have not seen me recently, I am disabled. I was born with a rare condition known as Patella Alta (high kneecaps). Over the decades, I’ve lost nearly all function in my knees & cannot walk more than a few steps at a time.

At the end of November my current crisis situation will become my permanent way of life, because IF I lose my laptop, I'll have no way of earning money to buy a replacement (which, for a set-up comparable to mine, would cost TWICE as much as the repairs*).
Specs: my laptop

* Everymac.com estimates the current retail price of my laptop to be $1000-$1300 for the standard MD035LL/A - A1286 (EMC 2353-1*) Add to that a hi-rez, anti-glare display (+$150), 16GB RAM (+$150) & a 256GB solid state hard drive (+$220).

I want to work. I need a laptop to do so. I have always been able to support myself, & will be able to again, just as soon as I get over this bump in the road. Please help me to get back on track & back to work. Anything you can spare will help. It all adds up. And if I can even make a PARTIAL payment on the repair bill by the end of November, that will buy me more time to come up with the rest.

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Thank you for stopping by and reading my story. If you can't donate, please share my link with someone you think might be able to.

$654 is not a lot to have to come up with, but it's unattainable when you don't have the means to earn it, and don't know anyone you can ask for help.

Thanks.