I got evicted on the 22nd, right before Christmas. Lawyers don't care for the holiday, but that is already known. I hope to get off the streets ASAP. Right now I'm living in my van, and using PC's at the public library system.  I lucked out this time!  I have one with a keyboard with letters still on it!

Being impoversihed, juvenile diabetic and having had two strokes suck, but it could be worse. I could be in Africa, or even in New Orleans, who are STILL waiting for government help.

That doesn't make me happier, though. I lost my book colection, and comic book collections, and almost all my funiture. I have a mini-van, so limited cargo roo. Dammit. Losing all my model ships REALLY pisses me off,too.  I had one of the Cutty Sark, 3ft long and museum quality.

I'm hoping for a better future.

ANY help would be appreciated. Throw money(if ya have any and want too!) at me at paypal at joelglaine (AT) aol.com without spaces and a @ dealy instead of the (AT) stuff.

I've been posting here for a long time, and have been writing a story and publishing it here as part of my therapy of using words. A lot of people like it, and I hope to be back ASAP and putting more stuff up.

I can't upload ANYTHING from a library terminal, so it might be a while. THAT eats me up,too. I'm so stressed out, I can barely think some days.

I hope everyone had a better Xmas than me. I had a better Xmas than a neighbor of mine did!  He got shot and killed in the complex I used to live in!!  My life could be worse, but at least I'm still kicking ass and taking names. :blink:

Life is better than vice-versas. AND less boring.  Looking at dirt all day is like watching grass grow., except LESS exciting! :laugh:

Hi Joel

I'm sorry,  I tried and failed.  We were going to put the plain folk figures to market then set up an artist relief fund.  Our competition "t-boned" us though.  On top of that the engineer charged us $150 an hour to design and build Caleb's gate trainer.  The final cost was the equivalent of two brand new cars.  I won't be able to recoup until tax time.

We're still going to set up an artist relief fund when the mark 4 figures go to market.  In the meantime we'll scrounge around and see what we can come up with.

Man, my thoughts and prayers go out to you.

JB

Hey gang, maybe post a fundraiser at fundable.com

Hi Jumpstartme2

Excellent link!  How should we set this up?  Would the Artist Relief Fund be through our community here at Renderosity?

So sorry to hear about this Joel!!  Do you have any friends you can crash with until you can get back on your feet??  If not maybe check your cities social assistance options?  Federal govenment does allow for help either financial and or boarding for emergency hardship cases like this.  Just google "insert city name" and social assistance and you should find links to phone numbers where you can speak to someone about getting you off the street and out of your van asap!!

I hope this helps and if I could help financially I would but after Christmas presents for my daughter and $500 emergency dental bill I'm strapped right now!  

Take care and I know your situation will improve!!

Gerard

Hiya patorak, I don't think Rendo can sponser it, but one can go in, start the fundraiser, and ask any and all who want to donate to do so. Might need to ask the mod of the forum if posting a link here is ok..if not, you can always use sitemail, and others can contact you for the link :) The fundraiser host would collect the money into their Paypal account, and could then transfer the funds to the recipient. If the goal amount is not met in say 26 days, then all funds donated so far go back to the ones who donated it and nobody pays anything. However, if it looks like the goal might not be met completely..say it's 'almost' there, but time is almost up, the host can go back and edit the needed amount to something smaller, thus insuring that at least some of the money is collected.

I wonder then if we could set up the fund and ask the mod at the community forum if we could post there,  maybe a sticky too.  We'll also have to give some thought into setting a realistic goal,  given we only have 26 days.  It may not be much but it would be a start.  I would imagine after the 26 days we could renew the fund.  It would be nice if we had at least a minimum of three trustees,  more would be most welcome though.

Well, since Stacey and myself mod the CC forum, I'd have to talk with her about it and she is on vacation right now. Not sure if that type of post would be seen as a commercial one or not or if we could even allow such a post...but if we put our heads together, we can get something done somehow... puts on thinking cap

Where there is a will, there is a way

Sounds great!  I agree,  where there is a will,  there is a way.  I'll get a hold of Milivia,  The High Waver,  and The Boys,  and see what we can come up with on our end. 

You know,  this is something that needs to be done.  Next year,  the economy will get even worse.  I know the other day,  Milivia told me they're starting to get upper middle class families at the soup kitchen.

try approaching the nearest religious institution and ask help.

I found a site that has some info on how to live in a van. Check it out.

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear you're having a hard time :(   I hope things improve soon!

Joel,
I'm so sorry to hear of your misfortunes. As hard as it may seem, keep a kind heart and warm thoughts.

Hi Jumpstartme2

Just to touch bases,  Milivia says it's a great idea and has volunteered to help.  I'll see The Boys monday at Murphy's and talk with them.  I've e mailed the High Waver,  but it may take a month or so to hear back from him.

PM me with any details,  then I'll e mail Annie.

"or even in New Orleans, who are STILL waiting for government help."

Ambitious people from New Orleans, the ones who fended for themselves, had jobs and new homes within weeks of the hurricane in New Orleans.

Take a lesson from them, if you can get on a computer to type about comic book collections then you have the means to create an account on Guru.com or getafreelancer or rentacoder to find projects in writing, 3D design, or other things you can easily manage.

For cryin' out loud Flibbits,  if you can't say somethin' nice don't say nothin' at all!

Quote - For cryin' out loud Flibbits,  if you can't say somethin' nice don't say nothin' at all!

Well said Patorak, It's easy for others to give useless advice when their belly is full and they have a roof over their head!

Thanks for these websites flibbits, I find them very helpful. I am looking for such for a long time. Thanks so much again and you da man!

Sorry to hear about this, Joel, and especially at Christmas Time. I'm keeping tabs here.
Money is tight, but as soon as this effort gets underway, I'll give what I can. I've been fortunate
in my family and it grieves me to hear that you are the last of your line. Please keep us posted. :(

Greywolf

o.k., joel, I hope they'll be able to help with the donation thing, and best wishes to get
a place ASAP.  in re: comic books, where does one buy or sell said collections?
in case yer landlord puts 'em up fer sale and somebody can get 'em back for ya?

Joe, I am so very sorry to hear about your circumstances.  Things are really dicey here for us also right now, hubby has been without a job for over a year now and our emergency funds, savings and retirement are now all gone.  Never in our wildest dreams did we think that this would happen to us, we did everything right. 

Have you been able to apply for disability or food stamps or anything?  I don't really know your whole circumstances, I'm sure you've done everything you could think of...no one wants to be living in their car that's for sure.

You are in my thoughts and prayers that things will turn around for you quickly, please take care of yourself!

Hey Joel!

What city do you live in?

Hi Lady Elf

You and your family are more than welcome to come stay with us if the need arises.

Hi Porthos

Merry Christmas!  Pm me if you get the chance,  I'd like to ask ya somethin'.

Quote - "or even in New Orleans, who are STILL waiting for government help."

Ambitious people from New Orleans, the ones who fended for themselves, had jobs and new homes within weeks of the hurricane in New Orleans.

Take a lesson from them, if you can get on a computer to type about comic book collections then you have the means to create an account on Guru.com or getafreelancer or rentacoder to find projects in writing, 3D design, or other things you can easily manage.

Don't even go there! You watch too much BS news. There are many people like me who lost thier homes and jobs for trying to do the right thing and not take advantage. You really have no clue. The truth is most decent hard working people got the shaft end of story. Unfortunately that's not the story that's told because the media would rather prey on negativity for ratings.

Joe keep a positive attitude. Do you have any distant relatives or friends you could stay with for a while? You could look into finding a homeless shelter http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/  or some kind of faith based organization in your area You may be able to collect unemployment atleast until you can get back on your feet again. I was going to suggest government assistance but when I googled it I saw this.  http://www.lahomelessblog.org/2008/06/keep-your-car-or-receive-government.html  I doubt it applys to all states but I would be wary of asking the gov for help.

Hi patorak! Thanks for the invite sweetie :) I hope it never comes to that, I cannot even fathom the loss of our beloved home.  We have a dog, cat and nine birds...it just scares me, it really does.  We are trying to work things out, but what drives us crazy is since we aren't involved in the ARM type mortgage, we are but one of many, many families that are experiencing trouble they never thought they would see and falling through the cracks in this mess.

Joe, I wish I could be of more help to you, I really do. My heart goes out to you. If you need to talk, or anything pm me I'm around almost all the time.

JB, that story is also true of not only New Orleans now, but the whole country unfortunately.  I no longer know what the answer is anymore, but they better figure something out quick.

I am praying tor you.  It is all I can do right now.

Sorry to hear that you're having a hard time, hope you get over it, I'll sure remind you in my prayer.

I'm sorry to hear that you're  impoversihed, but I'm not going to donate any money at the moment. Looking at your galleries it seems you have invested quite some money into poser (content) and other applications, while it sounds like that money should have been spent/invested otherwise. You're also spending a lot of time creating images, perhaps a change of spending habit and spending time on more serious things that do give a real income may be much wiser?

Quote - o.k., joel, I hope they'll be able to help with the donation thing, and best wishes to get
a place ASAP.  in re: comic books, where does one buy or sell said collections?
in case yer landlord puts 'em up fer sale and somebody can get 'em back for ya?

Joel, you should try and find free legal services (there usually are some available to the poor) -- in most places landlords can't just seize your stuff when they evict you.

I didn't spend any money on Poser since the Strokes. PERIOD. I spent time creating imges because I COULDN"T WALK OR EVEN HOLD A FREAKING PENCIL! I HAD TWO STROKES!!

Two.  It takes spell-checker and a lot of patience to hit the right keys with my fingers. I practice making images because it motivates me to get better. I need rehab, which the local state gov WILL NOT PAY FOR.  SO, I rehab myself as much as possible. It is grueling getting limbs that almost don't work to do anything. I get out and shuffle around for at least an hour a day to try to keep fit.

I'm doing better, but I'n still screwed up to hell and gone. Vocational Rehab has quantified me as severely handicapped, so I can't qualify for unemployment. I have applied for Disability abd all the SSI bullshit, but it hasn't come through yet. I've been turned down like almost everyone who applies, abd have appealled it with a lawyer. I'm hoping something might come through this year.

I have checked with local churches and such, and the sad,sorry news is they are strapped by the stock-market crash,too. there is SO many people screwed by the situation, they are all broke in the area.

I live in Nashville, Tennessee, and there are over 10,000 homeless in town. I'm just a face in the crowd here.  No friends locally, they all moved on to other places. I have plenty of people I talk to world-wide on the net, but no one local.  No family either, they all died in a house-fire when I was 12.

Rehabbing myself IS a serious thing. I had over $27,000 in IRA and combinged savings when I had the first stroke.  In over two years, I went through all that. I checked into all the government programs and got some help, but not enough to actually stop me from ending up homeless. I am working damned hard on surviving and being told I'm frivilous for spending my time trying to restore some kind of function on my own is ignorance personified.

I spent my money on doctors and medicine and survival.  To assume otherwise is foolish at best.  Because I nvested in something I love WHEN I was on TOP, why am I being kicked while I'm down.

I REFUSE to be invisible like most homeless, and will never go quietly into the night. If I didn't need help in the most desperate way, I never would have mentioned it here, because of heartless and ignorant people.

HOWEVER...That aside. I do thank those who have helped me.  I have a thick skin and have dealt with people on the WWW for a while.

@TheOwl, thanks for the hygiene tips, I do appreciate that.
@Patorak and other, thanks for all the effort, I really apreciate that,too.

Just because I can access a library PC, WHEN THEY ARE OPEN, doesn't mean anything.  The public library doesn't allow uploads or downloads.  As far as my books and otherstuff, they trashed them over the weekend,  They're all gone, now.  That's life. At least I saved my PC's, so I can restart over again. I lost everything I own before when I went into the hospital in 1981. The apartment house I lived in burned down, while I was there. My stuff was fine in the basement, but I could never get anything because the rest of the building had collapsed and was blocking access to it.

At least I got to pick and choose what I'd take for a couple of days, this time, so it wasn't too bad.  Days to pick through, is so much better than a fire or flood or twister, where you might have seconds or no time.

On the good news side--I have applied to public housing and might be accepted within the month at a disabled person's apartment house for Elderly and Disabled!  It'll take a month to process the paper-work, and I should know something after the fifteenth next month!  All I havce to do is survive for a month and I might have a place to live.

You may now knock on wood, where available! :laugh: Oops! Out of time already. The library only grants an hour of this stuff! More news as it breaks,later!

Hang in there, Joel! I think some posters just skimmed the original post and missed the stroke part. I have a friend who had a stroke - he sounds completely normal on the phone - but he is paralyzed on one side. His short term memory and vision were impaired. But he can't get to a Social Security office and they always blow him off on the phone because he sounds normal. If it wasn't for the  VA, he'd be really out of luck.

Kevin

JOELGLAINE you do know that Social Security is supposed to pay for your lawyer and not you, right?

Yeah, Human rights is a joke. Housing and rent go up constantly and stay up high, but never come down. If rent, housing was lower, more money to spend, more jobs, cleaner cities, and paying power/phone/water bills wouldn't be a problem. I lived in the streets for weeks, and did pick up my footing again, that was over 10 years ago. But today it is different. The way things are going, I can see myself pushing a cart in the streets,  in the future due to cost of living under a roof, and no one could care about housing/rent problems, even the human rights couldn't care....no one. And the rich live in beauty big homes, with parks, and pools as their back yards, 10 marble bathrooms 10 lux cars..

Quote - JOELGLAINE you do know that Social Security is supposed to pay for your lawyer and not you, right?

I know that.  Unfortunately, that IS part of the problem!  THAT is the reason why Social Security turns down almost 99,62% of all first-time applicants. On appeal, you turned down 86.72% on second  application/1st appeal, UNLESS you have a lawyer! Then the appeal passes at 80%+ (no exact numbers available on that statistic).  It leads to wide-spread graft, corruption and abuses in the whole network.

The payment comes from the payback to first appeal.  My lawyer's pay-off is $6000 from the bulk settlement of back-dated SSI payments with-held in the system.  A LOT of that $6000 goes to kick-backs and bribes to the "right people" to get me onto the system, I'm sure.  No acceptance, they get no money!

I've talked to over one hundred and twelve people about it, and they all agree about the above details. The figures I got from the Bureau of Statistics.

This whole ball of crap makes me sick as an American.  Geez!  It sounds like Russia or Iraq, not America.  I used to be naive, not any longer, dammit.:cursing:

It'll be Saturday before I can respond. The libraries are all closed New Years and Fridays,

It is lucky that I live in England where I am not under that sort of system.

I'm so sorry to hear this :(

There must be some shelters and food banks where you live!  Can you get into one of those while you are waiting for the housing to go through?

Hi JOEL

Nashville,  got it.  I've left a message with the Purple Foxes and waitin' on their reply.

Hi Jumpstartme2

E mail is on it's way.

Oh,  hey, JOEL PM me with your real name.

Quote - > Quote - JOELGLAINE you do know that Social Security is supposed to pay for your lawyer and not you, right?

I know that.  Unfortunately, that IS part of the problem!  THAT is the reason why Social Security turns down almost 99,62% of all first-time applicants. On appeal, you turned down 86.72% on second  application/1st appeal, UNLESS you have a lawyer! Then the appeal passes at 80%+ (no exact numbers available on that statistic).  It leads to wide-spread graft, corruption and abuses in the whole network.

The payment comes from the payback to first appeal.  My lawyer's pay-off is $6000 from the bulk settlement of back-dated SSI payments with-held in the system.  A LOT of that $6000 goes to kick-backs and bribes to the "right people" to get me onto the system, I'm sure.  No acceptance, they get no money!

I've talked to over one hundred and twelve people about it, and they all agree about the above details. The figures I got from the Bureau of Statistics.

This whole ball of crap makes me sick as an American.  Geez!  It sounds like Russia or Iraq, not America.  I used to be naive, not any longer, dammit.:cursing:

It'll be Saturday before I can respond. The libraries are all closed New Years and Fridays,

Jesus Christ! 

...They just gave 700 billion to incompetent bankers and to wallstreet, while regular people are hurting like this. (EU gave 2.3 trillion euros to greedy bankers). My God! This is insane!  It seems like the whole western world has got it's priorities all messed up. If Joel needs to hire  a lawyer just to get some help, well then the system is truly fucked.  This is not democracy, this is fascism!  And I thought the EU was as bad as it could get....We need to wake up.

Quote - I didn't spend any money on Poser since the Strokes. PERIOD. I spent time creating imges because I COULDN"T WALK OR EVEN HOLD A FREAKING PENCIL! I HAD TWO STROKES!!

Two.  It takes spell-checker and a lot of patience to hit the right keys with my fingers. I practice making images because it motivates me to get better. I need rehab, which the local state gov WILL NOT PAY FOR.  SO, I rehab myself as much as possible. It is grueling getting limbs that almost don't work to do anything. I get out and shuffle around for at least an hour a day to try to keep fit.

I'm doing better, but I'n still screwed up to hell and gone. Vocational Rehab has quantified me as severely handicapped, so I can't qualify for unemployment. I have applied for Disability abd all the SSI bullshit, but it hasn't come through yet. I've been turned down like almost everyone who applies, abd have appealled it with a lawyer. I'm hoping something might come through this year.

I have checked with local churches and such, and the sad,sorry news is they are strapped by the stock-market crash,too. there is SO many people screwed by the situation, they are all broke in the area.

I live in Nashville, Tennessee, and there are over 10,000 homeless in town. I'm just a face in the crowd here.  No friends locally, they all moved on to other places. I have plenty of people I talk to world-wide on the net, but no one local.  No family either, they all died in a house-fire when I was 12.

Rehabbing myself IS a serious thing. I had over $27,000 in IRA and combinged savings when I had the first stroke.  In over two years, I went through all that. I checked into all the government programs and got some help, but not enough to actually stop me from ending up homeless. I am working damned hard on surviving and being told I'm frivilous for spending my time trying to restore some kind of function on my own is ignorance personified.

I spent my money on doctors and medicine and survival.  To assume otherwise is foolish at best.  Because I nvested in something I love WHEN I was on TOP, why am I being kicked while I'm down.

I REFUSE to be invisible like most homeless, and will never go quietly into the night. If I didn't need help in the most desperate way, I never would have mentioned it here, because of heartless and ignorant people.

HOWEVER...That aside. I do thank those who have helped me.  I have a thick skin and have dealt with people on the WWW for a while.

@TheOwl, thanks for the hygiene tips, I do appreciate that.
@Patorak and other, thanks for all the effort, I really apreciate that,too.

Just because I can access a library PC, WHEN THEY ARE OPEN, doesn't mean anything.  The public library doesn't allow uploads or downloads.  As far as my books and otherstuff, they trashed them over the weekend,  They're all gone, now.  That's life. At least I saved my PC's, so I can restart over again. I lost everything I own before when I went into the hospital in 1981. The apartment house I lived in burned down, while I was there. My stuff was fine in the basement, but I could never get anything because the rest of the building had collapsed and was blocking access to it.

At least I got to pick and choose what I'd take for a couple of days, this time, so it wasn't too bad.  Days to pick through, is so much better than a fire or flood or twister, where you might have seconds or no time.

On the good news side--I have applied to public housing and might be accepted within the month at a disabled person's apartment house for Elderly and Disabled!  It'll take a month to process the paper-work, and I should know something after the fifteenth next month!  All I havce to do is survive for a month and I might have a place to live.

You may now knock on wood, where available! :laugh: Oops! Out of time already. The library only grants an hour of this stuff! More news as it breaks,later!

Joe was this a court ordered eviction?

Or did the landlord just tell you to get out?

I don't live in the great state of Ten. But  is it not the law in your state that a landlord must give you a thirty days notice if they're going to evict you? And then if you don't leave, file in court to have the court evict you?

Wich usually takes yet another thirty days or so.

The reason I ask that is because thats the law here in my state, and based upon our laws, and what you say above it sounds like this was an illegal eviction in the first place.

Also Joe I live in Ohio. And I've got a little extra room in my house. The social service here in this state are actually a little bit better than in some states too. So  If you can make it here, you are more than welcome to stay with us for a few months while you get on your feet. Provided you could handle my partner and I, and my Dad coming by to take care of the dog and cat while I'm gone. If I had a better car I'd even come and get ya. But with the car I have now, well lets just say that  if I did that, we'd both be on the streets stranded.

Oh and don't anyone start thinking I'm a nice guy either. I'm still the mean coordinator.
 

They did give me 30 days notice, and it was a court-ordered eviction. I don't have gas to make it to Ohio.  I am hopeful things might get straightened out within the next thirty days or so. My ex-boss ,of all people, is helping out some. He's letting me park in the back of the shop and I've set up an electric cord for a space heater in my van.

There is no living space in the basement of the shop, but there is a bathroom and hot water.  Conditions are a little post-apocalyptic, but seems survivable for right now. The break room has a refrigerator for my insulin, and a micro-wave.  No place to sleep, but survivable.  It's better than a cave which early man survived in, so I'll live.

It's not great, but better than a LOT of people have! I don't have a fixed address, or bed, but more security than I did before the new year's day.  I am glad I stopped by where I used to work on Wensday afternoon.

 I appreciate the advice and help and invites folks, more than I can say! Anyway, that is my situation as it stands right now. I'll update as I can.

@Pat--PM on it's way.

I have some money for you if someone could tell me how to get it to you?

When I go to joelglaine@aol.com all I get is the aol home page. so, how do I send the money? does anyone know? I could send it western union if I had a city and a name etc.

Contact your local post office and arrange for mail to be directed to you. You can use c/o General delivery at most post offices, you collect it from the counter. 

Quote - Contact your local post office and arrange for mail to be directed to you. You can use c/o General delivery at most post offices, you collect it from the counter. 

That would probably work.

Joel, If I send it General delivery I will need a name and city and the correct post office. If you have another way let me know,

Cheers,

Mike.

I think in his first post, he had a way to get money to him via Paypal. DAMN! I'd like to help too,
but Christmas tapped me out. It'll be a week before I can get some free dollars to send him.
Man, I love this community though. Member in trouble and offers of financial assistance, and
even a place to live come pouring in. Maybe Renderosity should change it's name to
Generosity. It sure fits. :)

Greywolf

Greywolf Starkiller:   I saw the part about Paypal, but how do you do it? Do I need a paypal account? Sorry I am so dumb about how these things work, but if someone could just explain what I need to do to send this by pay pal I could get it done.

Nevermind, I figured it out, Wow, that was really easy, didn't know you could send money that way.

Cheers,

Mike.

Hi JOEL

I got a lead on a job for you.  This feb the BP refinery by my house is going to start the second expansion phase,  they'll be hiring 400 construction workers.

Cheers

Pat

Quote - Hi JOEL

I got a lead on a job for you.  This feb the BP refinery by my house is going to start the second expansion phase,  they'll be hiring 400 construction workers.

Cheers

Pat

???? Hmmm...........................400?

???? Hmmm...........................400?

Yeah...So what's your question?

No question I get it.