Dear Johnny,

This is a hard email to write, I have listened to your show for years growing up with my dad and brothers. I have heard so many Hope For The Holidays stories over the years. 

Here is ours…my husband Erik is an Army Veteran, who has many complex health problems that we are just recently discovering are potentially connected to his service and we are actively trying to get service connected disability pay for his new health finds. 

But he has been in and out of the hospital several times this year, with Pancreatitis and other complications. He used all of his PTO in January when he was first hospitalized, and we are struggling to get caught up on rent and utilities since his last hospitalization in September and final outpatient procedure in October, to top it off, we thought we were headed for the light at the end of the tunnel when we both got COVID for a week in early November, after he was cleared to return to work from his last hospital procedure.

My PTO is gone and my employer is losing patience with my time off needs. So, I am hesitant to even ask for assistance from them.

We currently owe $930 for rent for December.

Late fees for September, October and November are $135 a month for a total of $405.

I was able to get our utilities are extended until December 1st we owe $330.28 for them.

My husband’s car just started making an awful grinding noise last week and that’s just another expense to think about.

We haven’t purchased any groceries or food for Thanksgiving or for the upcoming break for my kids next week and I’m hoping to have gas money to just keep us getting to and from work to keep making some money for all of our other bills.

We appreciate any help and support you can offer to help us out of this rough patch we are in. 

Thank you and God Bless,

Katie and Erik

Who Helped: Jason, Sarah, Mary, Mike, Brandon, Don, Cosentino’s

How You Helped: December rent, past late fees, utilities, Christmas for the kids, groceries