Hello, 

My name is Errin Pollard; I am 26 years old. I am embarking on a new journey. I was recently offered the opportunity to teach my first full year as an educator in Jacksonville, Florida. I live in Alabama, and the funds would help me relocate my life from one state to another to start the journey of impacting students’ lives. This will be a huge opportunity as this will be my first ever apartment and my first time completely alone. I want to make my family proud and know I can succeed alone.  I will use the funds to apply for an apartment and buy furniture for the apartment and the first month’s rent. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my message. 

GofundMe: https://gofund.me/23f7b81c

I've just applied for a netwish because I'm in dire need of assistance. I've been struggling with autism my whole life and since covid started I developed severe panic disorder because of agoraphobia. This site is a bright shining star in my life right now and I'm extremely grateful that I have such an opportunity and that this site is here for people in need like me! Love you all, stay safe and take care.

If anyone else wants to show support for me at all, here's a link to the music that I make and my wishlist, among some other things. Please take a look if you have the time!

https://funoaw.carrd.co/

I am not sure how to start this letter…

I’ve sat here for days trying to figure out the best way to portray my need of assistance, I have contemplated not even requesting any type of assistance and to continue to struggle doing what i am doing. However that has been shown to be unsuccessful. Growing up I observed and was educated by a single mother, my single mother who escaped a DV relationship from my alcoholic dad. She taught me to work hard and if there is something that I need and I cannot provide for myself then I was taught how to go without. This afforded me many missed opportunities to advance my education at a young age because, we could not afford the fees to send me to the different summer camps where it would prepare me for college. I do not blame anyone especially mom, she did what she could for us with what she had.

I did need to grow up very quickly and help my mom with the bills, so I have been working since I was in the 5^th grade making candy bags at the local grocery store. Then chopping and hauling wood with my grandpa. I wanted to share a little back story of my life but also to I wanted to let you know that whatever I needed I worked and I worked hard for.

After my husband (ex-husband now) abandoned out family I had to figure out how to take care of us, pay a mortgage, pay a car loan payment, basic needs (food, gas, insurances), all with a job that I knew I could not afford the mortgage each month because I did not get paid enough to afford the entire mortgage. On top of this the pandemic had just begun and I was laid off my job as Early Head Start Child Coordinator, because there was no use for me after I enrolled the hundreds of children into school. This was the beginning of my struggles with finances and trying to keep my little family and myself floating somehow. I ended up losing the house, I was able to send our son to live with my parents, and I stayed to take care of getting rid of the house, I sold what I could and I had to let the vehicle I had go into repo.

Since this time I have couched surfed and had a few jobs that were towards career choice. For years I worked as a Social Worker and provided assistance to hundreds if not thousands of individuals towards self-sufficiency. Yet I found it hard to help myself. I have taken odd jobs here and there, and moved several times around California.

What had brought me here to this point in my life is that now is that last year in 2022 the shingles virus had been activated within me, which I had no idea what it was. I was sick and in and out of the hospital for 4 months and suffered tremendous pain, scarring, and nerve damage. I was working during this time a Non-profit Indian Health Service where I was oversite of the Emergency Rental Assistant program. I loved my job, I loved what I did and my team and I had provided assistance to thousands of people which I considered a huge success. During this time I had nowhere to live so me and my service animal Cooper, stayed in my car and showered at local agencies who offered it or gyms. Sometimes a Friend would let me stay with them for a week or two. I never told anyone what was going on, I just kept working because I have a son to take care of. Well all those hours of working had t taken a toll on my body and I was not eating the right foods or drinking enough water, this combined with a high stress job created the perfect environment that the Shingles virus was activated. I am nowhere hear 55 or older I am in my early thirties, so I had no idea what was going on I just knew I was I a lot of pain but I muscled through it because I had to, my insurance from my program was changing so I was without insurance for about a month and that was when I ended up getting sick. What they don’t tell you is that the virus once activated you do not see any physical changes, at first you feel the pain, and I had such agonizing pain in the back of my neck for well over a month before the blisters came. I was told I waited too long to come into the ER because I was well into two months of this virus when I went in and the pain was so horrible I needed assistance to walk, it hurt to breath, it work sit, it was extremely unpleasant. Once I went into the ER that when I was told many of them had never seen shingles get this worse before. I found out it affected two nerves on the back of my neck which affected my entire left side of my body the blisters went down my back, my left arm, my chest, up my neck to the side my face and ear. Doctors were worried I would lose my hearing and I might lose my site in my left eye. I was supposed to be admitted but at that time I had no insurance and I had no way to pay the medical bills. So I made a deal with the hospital, since I was supposed to on an IV every 6 hours I asked if I could just come back every 6 hours to get the IV they were reluctant but I told them I could not drive and I would rest in my car until I needed to come back in, which is what I did.

I found out later after more tests I have permanent nerve damage Post herpetic neuralgia. So I am in constant pain on my left side, often the left side of my body goes numb and I cannot move anything. The virus also affected my balance so I now have vertigo, and my providers do not know is this will ever go away. As well I now have difficulties hearing out of my left ear, I often only hear ringing for long periods of time. This virus had taken a toll on my body, my recovery is still going on now, I lost strength in my hands and arms, I have difficulty walking, I get dizzy after standing or walking too long. However yet I still try to work somehow, I have had difficulty grasping things so my side jobs of being a tailor were gone for a while. Even now I cannot grasp a needle and thread so I am trying to figure out what else I can do.

While this was happening I was still logging into work and completing my tasks no matter how much pain I was in or how exhausted I was. Even with all my efforts my supervisor made a campaign against me in order to get rid of me. I was told I was not doing my job which was during the time I was at the peak of this virus and I could barely comprehend what was happening. I did this mostly on my own because I did not want to burden anyone. I ended up leaving that place and worked on my recovery.

Which brings me here, through my research and trying to not only find remote work, I need assistance. I have never used any type of assistance so asking for this I feel very embarrassed and ashamed I cannot take care of myself the way I used to. My body is no longer the same and it has been difficult to sometimes even provide for my basic needs. My mental health has been a work in progress since I was diagnosed in 2016 with PTSD, anxiety and panic disorders, and OCD but I am no longer a victim I am a survivor and that’s what I promote. I lost my transportation, a place to live, and lately have went without food but never neglected my pets they always had food. I finally applied recently for EBT which I’ve never had and I was approved. I applied for several emergency relief programs but most have closed or no longer have funding or I do not qualify because I am a single male in his thirties and my child does not live with at the moment.

I am here to request assistance in any way possible, at the moment I am trying to save money to finance a car so I am mobile to get to more jobs, the dealership I am working with is willing to help however I need to have a down payment of at least $2000. I also need assistance with some basic needs, shelter, clothing, food for my service animals, I need to renew my driver’s license, I need a deposit and first months’ rent, I have been doing what I can within my means and it seems I keep hitting road blocks. I read we should not request more than $200 and honestly at this point any help give is truly appreciated. As much as I try to save I end up with unexpected costs, especially if my son needs anything. If provided with the $200 I plan on using towards the $500 I have saved now for the down payment of a vehicle.

I am so sorry if this is a longer than usual and I apologize so asking for this I just do not know what else to do. I am a hard worker with a Masters Degree, I volunteer at animal shelters when I can, and I always donate to different agencies. I am so sorry I have to do this for myself when I have never had to before. I thank you for your time in reading this, and if there is no way I am able to receive any type of assistance I understand and I truly appreciate what you do and your consideration.

I hope you have a wonderful day,

Justin Goggles Jr, MLS