My friend is confiding in me that she got paid today, but her bank account is still in the negative. She's struggling with extreme depression because of her financial situation, and I want to do what I can to help take some of that pressure off. Her parents don't have any money, so she can't get any assistance from family.
I don't have any cash I could offer, but I could afford to put up to $100 on my credit card with no expectation of repayment. I know it's not much, but I'm in between jobs and am struggling myself.
Beyond this, I'm not sure how she can get the help she needs so she doesn't lose her car, her apartment, or get her power shut off. Are there reliable resources I could point her to for assistance?
Her rent went up by $200 a month and she was already only making $15/hr to begin with. Couple that with the rising cost of living and struggling with mental illness, and it's easy to fall behind. I'm going through something very similar, and that's why I want to help her so badly. The desperation can drive someone to want to end it all.
It’s very easy flip fall behind. Not victim blaming. So it’s not an issue of debt it’s just not enough money to go around. Depression sucks because it precludes you from doing stuff like taking overtime or trying to get a second job temporarily. The elephant in the room is always housing costs, but in many states you can be behind on rent and utilities for a while before eviction processes start. Looking into advice on what to do in that situation for the state and city is best bet, and cash assistance programs don’t really exist. A lease on the rental May lock someone into a period of time to stay there, but it may be possible to negotiate a lease break with the landlord and even have them cancel past due balances - if there is demand for the apartment and the landlord would rather rent it out for a higher rate asap then deal with eviction and collection