[Der88]

Hello everyone!

I wanted to share my story with someone. I don’t have the money to talk with someone professionally, and I don’t really have any friends that I can talk to about this. Thank you in advance for those of you that do read this.

I am a 25 year old male; I have been unemployed for over a year now and I have drained my savings. I decided to go back to college to earn a degree to help aid me in my job search in addition to the several years of experience I have. Currently I have been applying from any job I can find from sales, to customer service, to assistant, to fast food… ANYTHING regardless of my qualifications for the job. I’ve been applying to at least 10-15 jobs a day, in a 35 mile radius (I live about 30miles north of Los Angeles, CA). I’ve been physically visiting business and applying to ads online on websites like Craigslist and Monster. I’m also working with 3 temp agencies, and have yet to find even temporary employment with any of them this entire time. I can’t continue paying my tuition at this point (with financial aid and a student loan even) so I’m on the verge of losing my education. I’ve lost my apartment, and am now sleeping on my grandmother’s couch in the “retirement community” that she lives in. Yesterday I got pulled over for expired tags, and got nailed for driving without insurance and without a valid license. My car is in a 30 day impound and there is no way I’ll be able to pay for the court fees, or pay to renew my insurance, license, and registration… this could possibly end up in me going to jail as well. Forget about being able to afford to get my car out of impound. If I could have afforded to keep my car current this entire time I would have.

I have nowhere to go for help. My grandmother lives off of social security (a very small amount every month) so I cannot ask her for money. There is no one else in my life I can ask for money. While being unemployed, I have destroyed my credit rating. Now I don’t have a car… only a terrible excuse for a bus system, and I can only search for a job locally (where there are no jobs). I’ve already begun selling all of my possessions that I do not need.

How do I find a positive to my situation? How is it going to get better? How is this not completely hopeless? I can’t afford food… I can’t afford anything. I am depressed and I don’t see a way out of it.

Try Social Services in the town or city you live in. They might be able to offer you advice
about legal help--which you're going to need on the car issue impounding, etc. They
may also be able to find work for you, as well.

Check with Red Cross, too.

Sorry you're having such bad breaks in life; maybe things will change for you; I hope so.

[AV747]

You're important to not fall into panic. This happens with many people, just unpleasant period in their lives. Try to get a regular job, like at a cafe or at a gas station. There are jobs that offer along with accommodation. Or you could go into the different houses and offer your services to work in the garden or at home. Never hopeless situations. Hold on there. Some measures are temporarily required.

[bharani1008]

I'm so sorry you are having such a bad time. My heart hurts for you. I don't have much advice but maybe a few ideas. Have you looked into nursing? When I started out I got my LVN in one year. It pays a living wage and sets you up for further advancement by getting a two year RN from a community college. You can make a very good living that way. Another idea is is as a beautician. It doesn't take a long time to get qualified and I have been assured by people in the business that it is recession proof!
There is also a long list of help numbers in the top of this forum called Depression Resources.
I really hope you find what you need,

[Harmacy]

That's a tough situation to deal with.

It must be hard having so many different things to think about. Hopefully, you'll be able to deal with them one at a time. If you ended up in court re: the driving offences I'm sure all of your other life events would be taken into account as mitigating circumstances.

Have you contacted your college and explained your current financial situation to them to see if there's any help they can offer or if they could put your studies on hold until you're able to continue?

[gracez]

I also had this experience this year - not being hired at anything from gas stations, fast food, secretarial, etc. Even temp services have no temp work. I did exactly what you did and found it very depressing - on top of my depression!

One thing I learned from it is - many people are going thru this same process - for longer or shorter periods of time. Now I understand that experience.

I also searched for months for mental health services in my area - which are nearly non-existent for people in my situation. I don't qualify for Medicaid, for ex. After 4 mos. I finally got off a waiting list for free counselling. I went to a walk-in crisis center for medication. Now I cannot find anyone to prescribe for me, so not sure what will happen there. The meds aren't helping anyway.

I don't have any great ending to the story like - I finally got this great job!

I wanted to let you know that i'm also an unemployed, uninsured person with no savings. I have a roof over my head by some grace, I live rent-free.

Now I find occasional work mostly thru Craigslist or word of mouth. This allows me to buy groceries and meds.

I post on and check Craigslist (or maybe if you have other bulletin boars or a penny saver) every day. I post flyers around town. I accept anything - weeding gardens, strange one-day gigs. Mostly I've gotten some work dog - walking (great!), dog/house-sitting, and house cleaning. I think this could work in your area. Also a few times babysitting. Can you sign up to be a substitute teacher - schools are probably trying to get this in order now for the fall? At private schools and public schools. Also posting that you can tutor.

I ride my bike everywhere.

These are all the suggestions I have for now...

Also, there is a prescription discount program you can print out the card somewhere here from PC if you get medication.

Keep us posted