Help Helen

(The following is an update on Friday, 11.Apr.2008.)

The Return

Tomorrow, Saturday, 12.Apr.2008, I will be flying to Colorado. This time it will be to drive Helen back to California.

Helen decided that her best choice was to return to her prior place. There, in California, she has the people she knows, her community.

 In Colorado she is isolated and alone. She has no support system at all. This is not a good way to overcome all that face her. In her community, her friends can offer her the compassion and companionship all humans need.

Thank you all for all that you have done. Please keep us in your prayers as we make this long journey ... again.

(PS: I have just published a blog entry that relates to all of this. You ca see it here: http://www.MyEphemerae.com/compassion-a-ted-talk-by-karen-armstrong

(The following is an update after the trip from California to Colorado.)

The Background

Helen, had been unemployed for some time. She had been helped along month-to-month with generous contributions from friends. But after a while those lifelines ran thin. She was out of money, unable to pay her rent and was desperate.

Helen had lost her entire family and so has no family to which she could turn. In addition, several years ago she was swindled out of $120,000. Having lost everything, she lived on the streets for a while.

Yet, Helen is not a dummy. She received her degrees in France, and graduated from the Sorbonne in Paris. She has an MBA and years of background in the entertainment industry as a Public Relations specialist and Publicist, coordinator and manager for celebrities and a  Personal Assistant.

She does not want charity. She wants a job.

The Search

I wrote the various forums and lists in which I participate. A colleague in generously stepped forward. 

She offered to allow Helen to live in her basement apartment and to work in the business. But Helen had to get from California to Colorado.

To help that work, I raised money to stretch Helen's apartment an additional month. 

Many members of this forum and other forums contributed money.

(While a few gave extremely generous contributions, I was also astonished at the power of accumulations of very small contributions.)

Her church and friends chipped in to assist.

She packed what she owned. And I made plans to go to California to drive her, her possessions and nine cats to Colorado.

The Trip

The trip from California to Colorado went well despite an inauspicious
start.

My flight to California was cancelled, and then the replacement flight left an hour late. It became even later once it was airborne arriving almost 4 hours past the original schedule.

Despite the reservation, U-Haul did not have the truck so the truck loading began later than planned.

Once on the road, progress was slow because of the need to pull an
additional trailer (remember they didn't have the requested truck.) And, then I managed to take a wrong turn in the desert delaying us even further.

But despite all this, the trip went well and Helen, her cats and all her
possessions finally arrived.

The Next Steps

Now that Helen is there, she is working on the next steps.

In about 2 months, Helen's host will be leaving to move somewhere else so Helen has a timeline pushing her again.

Her apartment, while a welcome and generous gift, is smaller than the one bedroom she left, so she feels a bit cramped. In addition, if you've ever lived in a basement apartment you know that there is no scenic view which can exacerbate a feeling of claustrophobia. (My mother has severe claustrophobia so I know about that.) One of Helen's immediate goals is to move out of that basement into her own space returning that space to her host, even before the scheduled move.

In addition, so she is also working to find work more suited to her skills, talents and experience.

Finally, she is looking to leave Colorado. Her unexpected reactions to the altitude, even after this time, is still a concern and is affecting her health. She has suffered from sinus and breathing problems since her arrival. (She might also like to return to a bit warmer climate.)

The Options

So, what kind of work would she like? She is well suited as an executive assistant in a small office or for general secretarial work.

In addition, Helen has a love and special bond with animals so a job taking care of pets or animals would be good.

She also has a history with horses so a job taking care of horses could be a good fit. She could even move onto property and live in a separate cottage in lieu of some cash compensation.

If you know of anything, if you have any ideas, let me know.

If you need a resume or more information, feel free to email me.

Any money contributed on this page goes directly to Helen (not to me).

Let me offer my deepest and most heart felt thank you to everyone who has contributed so far. And especially to those who gave what they could but may have felt it didn't really matter, let me assure you that those small contributions mattered a lot and I am most grateful.

Helen's financial needs continue through this transition. I am leaving this contribution page in place to help Helen with these needs. Again, all contributions go to Helen.

What is below was written before the trip from California to Colorado.

I have a friend in California. I have known her for several years. And she is like my little sister.

Her name is Helen.

Helen has been unemployed for some time. She's been helped along month to month with generous contributions from friends and by extending her credit to the max. But after a while those lifelines run thin.

Helen is no dummy. She received her degrees in France, and graduated from the Sorbonne in Paris. She has an MBA. And years of background in the entertainment industry.

Helen has not wanted charity. She has wanted a job. But times are tight and they have been especially tight for Helen.

Helen has finally found a job. But it is in Colorado and she needs help moving there.

We, her friends, are now trying to help Helen have the new start in her live that she deserves. 

We are working to help Helen raise the money she needs to honor her local debts and pay for the move.

We are just about out of time.

Helen has her apartment through the end of February. Then we have to move her.

You can help. If you enjoyed my site, enough to leave me even the smallest "tip" in my "tip jar", do it now.

Every penny raised through the end of March, 2008 goes to help Helen make this move.

If you need more information, please email me here.

Last updated:
17:46, Fri, 11.Apr.2008