Wife with MS, two children one with Special Needs Child and soon to be out of work: HELP Please!

[In Truth We Trust]

I am not seeking to fund raise. Just hoping I can find help getting a job fast before we lose our house.

I am 51 years old with a wife who has multiple sclerosis,a son with Prader Willi Syndrome another son who passed away in a tragic accident three years ago at age 18 and my youngest is about to turn 18 in two weeks. He is a freshman at a local community college. I was informed today that I maybe out of work in 60 days and perhaps even sooner. I can not afford even to miss one paycheck so I am desperate for help.

I have extensive sales experience having worked at Cisco in a inside sales capacity and am currently doing inside sales for a large software house in North Carolina. Please let me know if you can help in any way possible!I realize unfortunately that I am only one among literally many millions of other fellow Americans but if you can help in any way possible I would be eternally grateful.

Thank you!



Required disclaimer: The administrators of Democratic Underground have given permission for one discussion thread on this topic. The administrators of Democratic Underground make no claims regarding the legitimacy or illegitimacy of this fundraising effort. Permission was granted by Skinner on 8/26/11, and the moderators have been notified.

[elocs]

1. Delete, my mistake.

[auntAgonist]

2. delete. Cleared up confusion :)

[kickysnana]

3. It might help if you provided a city or area you can work in. Good luck.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. Perhaps advising of the city might help? It's my hope a job is found immediately! nt

[auntAgonist]

5. kick

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. Kicking.

[mmonk]

7. Maybe this can help:

http://wishadoo.com/

[auntAgonist]

9. very good idea mmonk! Kicking again. n/t

[In Truth We Trust]

16. Interesting, Thank you

[FourScore]

8. I can offer nothing but a kick and a rec.

Please keep us informed of how you are doing.

:hug:

[In Truth We Trust]

17. Thanks

[Justina For Justice]

10. If You Can Speak Spanish, Try Venezuela!

As an American now living and teaching in Venezuela, I suggest that many Americans would enjoy a much, much higher quality of life if they emigrated to a country like Venezuela where the government's top priority is improving the lives of its people.

Thanks to the Chavez government, folks here have access to good health care, totally free. I've been seen by top flight specialists and had thousands of dollars of medical tests absolutely free. Drugs for the serious and chronically ill are provided by the government. Special services are available free for those with dis-capacities.

Food may be purchased at extremely low prices at government and restaurants open to all, while those with low resources get it free.

Public education to the university level is free to all here, and the government is building thousands of new university and technical education centers to educate all its citizens.

The government is building two millions homes for the homeless and inadequately housed.

Meanwhile, the corrupt bankers here who miss-use their depositors' and stockholders' money were immediately put in jail, not rewarded with billions in bail-outs.

Neighborhood councils are given government funding to fix and improve their neighborhoods, according to the communities' democratically decided plans. Even energy-saving light bulbs are distributed free throughout the country.

Or, if you don't speak Spanish and don't wish to emigrate to Venezuela, why not join with your U.S. neighbors to demand that U.S. taxes be spent on similar programs for Americans, rather than on wars and other programs for the billionaire class.

Socialism for the rich now exists in the U.S., time to organize together and demand that all our citizens be included!

[sabrina 1]

30. That sounds very interesting. I had thought of going there to teach

several years ago as the Government was promoting a huge push to eradicate illiteracy and putting the money behind it. I did have a friend there at the time and he told me they would welcome foreign teachers as nearly 80% of the country was illiterate when Chavez took over. But, family etc put the idea out of my head. Glad you found a way to make a better life for both yourself and the people there.

[dana_b]

11. Do you live near Boston

and for those that can help a bit, do you have a paypal account?

[In Truth We Trust]

18. I do not however I am originally from Boston and would be open to any opportunites there too

[In Truth We Trust]

28. I should have been more specific in my first response to you. I meant to say

I do not have a paypal account and I do not live there either but as I mentioned, I would consider a move if necessary. Thank you for your support and consideration.

[riderinthestorm]

12. Kick! nt

[WillyT]

13. K & R !!!

:grouphug:

:kick:

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Kick because this is important

[In Truth We Trust]

19. Thank you very much Nadinbrzezinski

[Bryn]

15. Kick

for help

[Wheezy]

20. kick & rec

[Capitalocracy]

21. How much are you making?

[In Truth We Trust]

34. I have a comination of base plus commission. Net total has been mid 70's but willing to talk

[Capitalocracy]

35. I could make some suggestions if you're a fast typist

but being a fast typist myself, the freelance transcription work I do often doesn't break minimum wage. So it would be a huge step down, but if you need something in the interim, I can give you some contact info for some of the people I do work for. I can't help you out much beyond that, or else my financial situation would be much better than it is.

[In Truth We Trust]

43. Thank you. I may need that if I dont find anything else soon.

[Capitalocracy]

48. OK, here are a couple

I do transcription work for ACS Morningside, Google them and you'll be able to send them a resume. They pay better than most transcription services. And I also work for CastingWords via Amazon's Mechanical Turk. They have a peer-graded point system... it's a little finicky and not always fair, but if you are patient and ONLY take transcripts with good audio, you'll eventually get enough points to do transcripts that pay a little better, when they're available. That's at www.mturk.com, search in their system for castingwords.

You'll need a free program called ExpressScribe, you can set up hotkeys or a footpedal for play, stop, rewind, slow, fast forward, and that really helps with transcription work.

Also, if you do end up needing that kind of interim freelance work, also PM me. I'm trying to get my own business started. I haven't had too much luck yet, but contact me in case that changes. I'll pay better than any of the other guys.

Anyway, that's the advice I can give from my line of work... but I hope you have better luck.

[walerosco]

22. kick

I hope you consider Omaha Nebraska. We have a paypal branch in Omaha and from Newspaper and radio ads, they are always hiring. Also, we could use a few more voting liberals in the state

4% unemployment rate and very affordable city. Good luck with your job hunt and I hope everything works out alright.

[In Truth We Trust]

29. Thank you. I will check into it. I lived in Iowa for a year many years ago and found the people in

the Midwest to be very nice. Of course I find most people to be very nice regardless of where you are. My first desire is stay here in the Triangle are of NC and hold onto our house of 21 years but will do anything ultimately that makes the best sense for my family.

[handmade34]

39. have you tried

positions with RTI International??

[In Truth We Trust]

42. I have not. Do you have any insight/connections?

[handmade34]

47. excellent company

I've worked for them in the past. One of the best research companies in the U.S.

http://www.rti.org/
http://www.rti.org/page.cfm?nav=9

[Sienna86]

23. Kick & Rec

All I can add is that Omaha is a great city, just in case the paypal option looks interesting.

[steve2470]

24. k&r nt

[cali]

25. kick. I wish I could help

all I can do is send positive vibes and best wishes.

[Fumesucker]

26. K&R ..

[eilen]

27. K & R. I work in healthcare so don't have any idea about

your field. Good luck to you and your family. Our property taxes in Central NY are kind of high but the rents are very reasonable and our housing prices are reasonable. It gets cold in the winter but no more that Boston. Here is a link to our local paper's classfied ads;

http://classifieds.syracuse.com/

[onecent]

31. K & R.. cannot help you except to send you good

vibes and wish you luck. Praying you find something soon. I hate this "jobless" time in our lives. I am retired, getting a pension and social security but I
have 16 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren and I fear for their future in this economy.

Hugs to you and your family!

[JI7]

32. have you tried that linkedin site ?

[In Truth We Trust]

45. I have; actually simultaneously scanning and applying there now

[Glimmer of Hope]

33. Is your current employer offering any kind of assistance with

job placement? I hope things work out for you.

[In Truth We Trust]

49. No. none at all

[lunatica]

36. Have you considered filing for bankruptcy?

It's not a difficult process and you can pretty much do it yourself. I'm in California. I had a paralegal help me and the only thing they're allowed to charge is $150. The court filing fee is $299. Then the process starts. You only have to go to court once to see the Trustee and that's so the creditors can ask you questions. They rarely show up so the Trustee asks a few questions and tells you if you need to provide more documentation. A few months later they discharge the bankruptcy. Discharge means they grant it.

You can also buy time by not paying your mortgage. After three months they write you a letter saying they're going to start foreclosure proceedings. At that time, if you have a job you can ask for a loan modification. They'll send you a packet of what documents they want which is basically the same thing the bankruptcy court asks for.

If nothing else you can buy time and keep much more of your paycheck for a few months.

Good luck. I hope you get a job quickly.

[In Truth We Trust]

44. I need to begin considering that very real neccesity. A friend suggested that as well this afternoon

I hope to avoid it but things don"t look good. I appreciate the great advice.

[SheilaT]

37. Hospitals are almost always hiring.

And almost all of them post all of their jobs on-line. Work is work, and once you get your foot in the door you may find other opportunities within the hospital. And they tend to have pretty good health care. I know. I work part time in a hospital, and since I only have my self to cover, the health benefits are more than adequate for me.

[moondust]

40. Recommended.

Google your local hospitals and check out their job listings.

[w8liftinglady]

38. If you're open to Texas, Try UTSW..

http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/utsw/cda/dept36801/files/357170.html

plus,they have an excellent MS program in their neurology dept.(for your wife)

[In Truth We Trust]

46. Thanks

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

41. There are jobs in North Dakota.

Yes, I know; it's North Dakota. But the recession hasn't touched it and there are jobs there.

[In Truth We Trust]

50. Thank you. I need to get some sleep now but I will check back on this thread after work tomorrow

evening. I am very grateful to all of you for your suggestions, advice, and support!

[Liberty Belle]

51. PM me please. I need sales help and it can be done long-distance, probably.

It would be selling advertising and sponsorships for a very reputable and major nonprofit media outlet with a very generous commission. Our last sales guy got cancer and had to move out of state for treatment, so we really need some help, too! We can provide many leads, and it's not hard to find others.

[RainDog]

52. K&R

I also second the recommendation to check out Wishadoo.

[border_town]

53. I was unemployed

for 1 1/2 years and moved from the Northeast to SC and found a job with in a months time. A good paying job at that.I believe NC has a better job market than SC. The bad thing about NC is it is a very competitive market. Especially in the Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte areas. Unfortunately it all comes down to skills, the job pool and a little luck. Good luck with your search.

[Pooka Fey]

54. Kicking. Best wishes and good luck to you, sir. nt

[democrank]

55. Kick

My best to you.

[peace frog]

56. K & R

Best wishes to you and your family.

[Dokkie]

57. k & r

[liberal N proud]

58. K&R to keep visible.

[a2liberal]

59. Please be careful about taking a low-paying job

I believe state laws vary on what happens to your unemployment benefits if you take full-time work that pays significantly less than your previous job. Same thing with how part-time work affects the benefit amount. There is also some trickiness involved in moving, because I think state laws vary on whether or how much unemployment/underemployment you can claim if your last full-time job, and therefore insurance premiums paid, were in a different state.

Also, I'm sure I probably don't need to tell you this given the fact that you're on a liberal site, but I will just in case. Please don't feel afraid or ashamed to claim benefits that you are entitled to. I know the right-wing has managed to stigmatize unemployment benefits so much that even my relatively liberal family somehow believes that they're abused too much, but the fact is that you paid (through your employer) insurance premiums for exactly this situation, and even for the federal extensions, you are paying taxes to fund the program. Same thing with other benefits you may be entitled to (food stamps, SCHIP, other low-income health insurance programs)... you paid in taxes to help people in an unfortunate situation, and now that's you and you are entitled to and deserve those benefits. If you qualify, take them! Even non-government non-profits have their programs there because they WANT to help people in unfortunate circumstances.

[In Truth We Trust]

66. Thank you very much for taking the time to share this sage advice. I'm hoping to find something

before these steps are necessary but trust me, I will do whatever I need to take care of my family. Btw, I couldn't agree more with the sentiment you expressed about the stigma associated with these situations.

[a2liberal]

70. Thanks for the compliment, but please

don't trust/rely on anything I said about the laws as-is as "sage" advice without additional research... I'm not really an expert in the matter, just speaking from what I believe to be the case from my recollection of the reading I did when I was unemployed (which was a while ago, so I may be misremembering things and/or have out-of-date info).

[Irishonly]

60. K&R

Good luck

[snooper2]

61. Can you summarize your resume? Inside Sales? I have an inkling...but not quite sure

Do you know what a B channel is? Did you sell router gear? 7304s? Do you know anything about the Cisco Call Manager line, Call Manager Express, Cube? Any Cisco certifications?

What do you do at the software house, inside sales? I take it you are in North Carolina? What's your techincal expertise?

[In Truth We Trust]

69. I do know what a B Channel is however I am not an SC/technician. I had worked for Cisco back in 2k

I have Cisco sales certification but no technical certifications. I do have ITIL Foundation 3 certification however. I have extensive inside sales and outside sales experience. Do you have any suggestions hopefully?

[Pooka Fey]

62. Kicking for visibility

[auntAgonist]

63. kicking again for visibility. n/t

[adigal]

64. Kicking and look into hospitals and nursing homes

Most have programs that train you to be medical assistants or nursing assts. It is minimum wage during training, which is about 100 hours, then you can make up to $15 an hour, and many offer benefits. While you work, you can always study further to get a more advanced degree.

Best wishes, praying for you and your family,

[TBF]

65. Another kick for visibility. nt

[steve2470]

67. kick again nt

[laundry_queen]

68. Kick for you

I'm no resume expert, but I'm in school full time (business admin and accounting) and had 3 separate courses that had a 'write your resume' project. I got A's in all of them. If you want, I could look over yours and critique it. I could also give pointers on cover letters. hth.