Christopher O - $1,500/month

The last several years have been difficult for me, to say the least. I began the journey of a lifetime in early 2017 with the loss of my partner and fiancée to cancer. Losing him was one of the hardest things I have ever had to go through. Most of the difficulty, however, was caused more by my lack of emotional preparedness, my inability to effectively work through his passing...rather than his loss itself. The next few years were filled with misstep after misstep. A series of decisions that led me to a place that got very dark, left me very sad, and helped me to realize that I was very much all alone.

Around the time of the COVID pandemic, I was gainfully employed earning a six-figure income. Throughout the shutdown, I made it through the first two rounds of layoffs, job intact. Then, the company announced that there would be a 3rd round coming. My position was eliminated in that third round. I chose to view the layoff as a blessing. I was going through a difficult and contested divorce. My husband, who had been abusive mentally, emotionally, and physically was contesting the divorce. He was spending money like we had millions in the bank, and using social media, messaging apps, and the anonymity of the internet to literally terrorize me and those closest to me around the close.

I used the severance package the company gave me as an opportunity to take a few months off, thinking I would wait until the new year to apply for jobs. That decision, ultimately proved to be the worst thing I could have done. The year following the COVID shutdown proved to be a tough one for many businesses and industries. The positions that I was applying for were budgeted and planned for. But, by mid-year, as revenues missed targets, those positions were postponed and eventually eliminated completely. So, despite the fact that I was in the final round of interviews for two VERY good jobs...the call that I received from HR was not an offer of employment, but rather, an invitation to reapply when the position was reposted.

So, what was intended to be a just few months off to get myself together turned into nearly two years being unemployed. During that timeframe, I managed to miss out on every single dollar of COVID stimulus. I was turned down from nearly every benefits program or charitable organization - often not based on a lack of need, but rather, on technicalities that one tends to encounter when they have never navigated the system. By the time I finally got offered a position in March of 2022, I had completely wiped out every penny I had in savings, including the entirety of my 401k that I had spent nearly three decades building. The position that I was offered paid a salary that was 1/3 of my pre-COVID income and the position was in an entirely new industry and career field than I had never worked in before. The learning curve was steep. But I did what someone who had been unemployed for almost two years is supposed to do when someone offers them a job. I took it.

As I worked through the process of studying, testing, and becoming licensed. I also tried to get my feet back underneath me. As I was doing so, the creditors that I had neglected during my extended unemployment came calling. Instead of phone calls and letter through the postal mail, they showed up with court summonses, judgments and garnishments. In order to avoid complications with my new employer, I chose to sell my home and to utilize the equity from that sale to pay off the most pressing debts. I closed on my sale of home in July 2022 after a 30-day escrow with an all-cash offer from a local buyer. The only thing that delayed the closing was my own inability to find a place to move that had immediate availability faster. As I sat in the boardroom of the title company, waiting to sign the documents that would relinquish my claim to the home that, just a short time ago, had been my forever home, I quickly learned that when money is involved, there is no such thing as "too fast."

As the closing agent reviewed the settlement paperwork with me, I was informed of the numerous liens, holds, and demands for payment that would be reducing the proceeds of the sale. The amount of equity that would receiving via wire transfer would be not quite half of the funds that I originally had planned for. Knowing that the wire transfer would be reduced even further by the ACH authorizations that I had arranged prior to closing with various banks and accounts to payoff charged off credit cards and past-due balances. I logged into my account and managed to transfer just enough that after the bank cleared all the above, I was able to pay the security deposit and first month's rent on a 700 square foot, one bedroom apartment. A far cry from the 2,800+ square foot, 6-bedroom home with a pool & hot tub that I had called home for the previous ten years.

While I tried my best to downsize, as I moved into the apartment it became painfully clear that I still had a lot more downsizing left to do! Luckily, on the third night in my new apartment, I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of the water shutoff located under the bathroom sink exploding. In the roughly two hours of time that passed between my call to report an emergency maintenance request and when the maintenance technician showed up, the apartment had literally become an indoor lake... with its' own twin waterfalls that cascaded from the air vents in the kitchen and living room ceilings as the water flowed into the downstairs from where it originated in the second floor bathroom. I lived in that apartment for 18-months, only to be evicted for having been ten days late on my December rent payment. As I moved my things from the apartment into the U-haul that was parked outside, i noted that the living room ceiling still wore the water stains from the flood on night three...a fact that I found quite humorous, considering the circumstances.

As all of that had been occurring, I had also been spending every moment possible learning everything I could while I worked my a** off to become an amazing insurance agent! Barely making ends meet would have been nice. Instead, I scraped by...surviving on the belief that I would eventually get back to a time and a place where I wouldn't have to make the frequent choice between feeding my dog or feeding myself. I found myself staying in the office to submit sales and working hours that would have been illegal had I not been on salary...only to find myself in the manager's office on payday discussing why my commission had not paid out as reported and/or why my paycheck was less than we had discussed. There were always reasons that simply boiled down to being told that I would simply need to "work harder" while the manager assured that "next month would look different." I would review reports, applications, and results from hours that I should have been at home but instead was in the office processing deals that the manager had received commission on. Biting my tongue when the story about a "top performer" who worked for "a local agent" that had to get a 2nd and the 3rd job to make ends meet. The story told to justify the unlivable wage that I was being paid. Despite the promises made it was funny how different only ever seemed to be a lot more of the same.

Exhausted, and despairing, I walked out on two employers during this timeframe. Something I had never done before. However, the second walkout proved that all had not been in vain. I received a call from a recruiter to discuss an available opportunity. I applied, interviewed, and was quickly offered a position! The base salary for the new position was more than my last two positions had paid when added together! I'd also be earning commission! And to top things off, the position would include other benefits and perks that I had always said I wanted but would likely never get. These things included the ability to work from home full-time, a flexible schedule that started at 11am and ended at 8pm, and a chance to focus solely on sales with no expectation of servicing or entering maintenance on the policies after they were issued.

If you've been paying attention to the story thus far, then you've already likely realized that the hero doesn't get to walk off into the sunset just yet. You see, the job offer had come about three weeks too late. That is three weeks later than would have been necessary to avoid adding further insult to injury. The week that I received my first paycheck from the new employer, the paperwork that would being the process of evicting me from my second apartment had been processed in the Jackson County Circuit Court. I am writing this bio only four days after the judgment in that case was rendered in favor of the plaintiff. I'll likely be forced out of the apartment this weekend, if not before.

Over the last few weeks, I have applied for multiple apartments. Each time, submitting the application only to receive the denial in less time than it took to complete the application. There are non-refundable fees and charges associated with each and every one of them, but based on my circumstances, there is no place that will consider renting to me. No one wants to hear the details of the story above. Even if they did listen to me and they did hear it, the decision would likely not be changed.

The fact is that we live in a world where we no longer believe in the inherent goodness of people. A world where the content of one's character is determined by an AI-generated background check and a credit score. A world where money is king. As long as you earn 6x the monthly rent, then your past no longer matters. A world where instead of offering someone a chance and a leg-up to help them get back on their feet, that type of generosity is frowned upon as encouraging people to not work and to seek handouts instead. A world where it is far better for someone to get evicted a matter of days before their lease would have expired anyway, because it would teach them the lesson that paying a debt should come as a priority above anything else - regardless of circumstances - and at whatever costs. A world where being late on your obligations isn't caused by our circumstances, but rather, is a direct reflection of our own personal worthiness as people. The ability to afford what is necessary to provide for our basic needs and comforts is not a right, but rather a privilege afforded to only those who've proven themselves worthy. A world where a man in a business suit truly believes that he works harder than and deserves more than a single mother working three jobs and barely sleeps. A world where the belief that we shouldn't kick someone while they're down has been thrown to the wayside in a time now long forgotten. When did we decided that life was the Hunger Games and the objective was to kill or be killed?

If you've gotten through to this point with me, then I thank you. Truly.

Truth is, I am not all that different than I was when this all began 8 years ago. I am a 43-year-old divorced white male. I'm gay. I sell insurance. I have a dog named Mackenzie. I still believe that I should pay my debts, and that hard work pays off. I trust people too quickly, give too much of myself to others, and often find myself wishing that I would receive the same kindnesses that i offer to others. I'm educated. An introvert. Love a good documentary and a good book. I procrastinate. Enjoy cooking and a good white wine. I work from home. i say Im clean, but I'm a piler who is prone to a bit of clutter. I talk, a lot. I have a lot to offer. I am seeking a place to call home where I will contribute willingly to the financial obligations that we agree upon. I can provide proof of my employment, proof of income, and character references. If at all possible, I am seeking a move-in date that is as close to immediate as can be accommodated.

And finally, whether or not you are able to help by offering me a room, a shared apartment, or even words of encouragement, I am hopeful that by reading this you might be touched to show someone a random act of kindness today. You never know what is going on in someone's life. I know that in my own situation, there have been countless times that just a kind word from a stranger would have been enough to remind me that there are still kind hearts and gentle people....and all hope is not lost.