Rural transportation and bills

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Kelly_Ryan
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Rural transportation and bills

Post by Kelly_Ryan »

My name is Kelly, and I have perused your site but not been able to find information exactly pertinent to my situation about rural transportation, and so I was hoping you could help point me in the right direction. I am a resident of Georgia, some 20 miles from the border with Tennessee, and I have been trying to work toward a number of things for some time now.
I am legally disabled and a recipient of SSDI, am a recent homeowner after going in for halves on a mortgage with an old friend, and I have lined up the necessary programs that will eventually allow me to work remotely in the telehealth field. There are several problems that stand in the way though. Most immediate is my car for transportation in rural areas. It's suffered a cracked engine block, and I need the vehicle either repaired or replaced, and my local Community Actions Agency has been of no help.
I am in a very rural area which has no access to regular public transit, and my disabilities are of a nature that I would not be able to make use of public transit or Rural transportation were it available; it's a metabolic issue as opposed to an ambulatory one, and I consequently need to be able to drive my own vehicle so that I can make immediate accommodation for unexpected emergencies. (Pulling over because I'm suddenly going to be sick as a dog, which requires some privacy to prevent being arrested for public indecency.)
It's a long story, and I will try to sum it up. As I said, I'm trying to get the certification to work in the remote mental healthcare field. This requires I complete an internship after obtaining my master's degree. I have befriended a therapist who is willing to take me on. This will require daily transportation exceeding about 100 miles round trip. But first I must get my master's degree. I have qualified for a remote educational program which will be paid for. But I have suffered injuries in the last few years which cause me constant pain and prevent me from being able to focus well enough to pass the educational program. 3 herniated discs in my lower back, in addition to 3 older discs that were already there, as well as fractures to several cervical vertebrae. Somehow, I did not know my neck was broken for a few weeks, and the bones began to heal back together wrong before it could be addressed. I am in the care of a pain management specialist, but I need the help of a spinal specialist if I want to think clearly so I can go back to school. I have seen such a specialist, and we have a plan of treatment established. It's going to include at least two surgeries, and a great deal of physical therapy. It should take a year, and I can expect to drive into the city as often as 4 times a week for the duration. In order to obtain rehabilitation and regain physical and mental function, I need a functional vehicle. Once my treatments end and I am able to finish my education, I will again need a vehicle in order to obtain my certification to work from home in the vocation I have been trying for almost 16 years to achieve. I cannot afford to replace or repair my vehicle, and any help in this regard is most desperately needed. Repair costs are somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000+. I am not mechanically inclined, and so I would be hesitant to try to shop for another vehicle locally. Even if I were familiar with cars, I cannot find anything for less than the repair costs.
Additionally, my home is in poor repair, and I cannot afford to repair it until such time as I am gainfully employed. However, the house will not wait the 3+ years required. To start, I need a new roof. The plywood sheeting beneath is supposedly in good repair still, but the flashing, felt, and shingling all must be replaced according to a specialist. I was quoted something in the range of $15,000 for this.
There is also danger to the foundation of the house. This is partially due to the previous owners not maintaining the lawn and rain simply carrying soil away. Also, the gutter system in place is insufficient for the strong seasonal rains my area receives. A French drain system which carries water underground and away from the house is needed. That requires a large tree on the property to be moved, which may be of interest to services which obtain rare lumber, as it's a 100 year old white oak. I cannot personally find any such services, regrettably. Also, trenches must be cut from the house's downspouts as much as 20-30 feet away in the direction of the property's slope in order for the drains to be installed. I have the skills and materials to install the new drain system, but cannot dig, let alone remove such a massive tree, due to my back and documented disabilities. As I mentioned above, the dangerous lack of soil means we also need to re-landscape the grounds, starting with trucking in fill earth and topsoil, followed by substantial planting of groundcover.
Finally, I need work to help me get by in the interim with the transportation in rural areas. The mortgage's co-owner needs secondary work as well, for that matter. We have degrees in linguistics and psychology, which is how we came to know each other, and while the house's co-owner has a day job, I do not. We would both be greatly aided with freelance employment online. Something that can be done on our own shifting schedules. I have tried looking for work as an editor, copyeditor, proofreader, copywriter, transcriptionist, and data entry specialist, which are all positions I have held in the past. However, the majority of the job openings I find are just scams, and those which are legitimate either simply don't reply to my applications or reject me since they already have plenty of employees more skilled than I am.
In the short-term, an operational vehicle for transportation is what I need. Any aid toward the property is also very important. By having small but steady sources of income, both I and the co-owner of this property hope to be able to gain some financial independence, help cover the costs of living in and maintaining this home, and I personally hope to be able to complete my education and find lasting, gainful employment in a position one might be able to call a career.
Now that I have laid out the circumstances and needs, and I am aware of how significant they are, what is there out there that can be done? Any information, links, references, or applications would be extremely appreciated. Your own counsel and thoughts on the matter would also be most welcome.
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