My name is Lisa Page, if you are from here, you probably already know me. I have been involved in many things through the years and it’s a small town. I have been a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener of Tuolumne County since 2009. I have had the honor of serving as President of our group for the past 5 ½ years. I have put in over 3500 hours of volunteer hours. I have been involved in numerous community events throughout the years. I became unable to work a convention job in 1994. I was diagnosed with multi-level cervical degenerative disc disease. I have lived with chronic pain since then. I also have lumber degenerative discs, arthritis of the spine and hands. Lots of nerve damage. Osteoarthritis in both knees. Recently I was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. My chronic pain has become worse over the years, and I suffer from it 24/7. Even with all the health issues I suffer from, I continue to take care of our son, all the household chores, including chopping and moving firewood and many other homeowner responsibilities. I do the shopping and cooking. By the end of the day, my pain is extreme. I persevere.
It’s been a rough three years for my family. It all started at the end of January 2020. Our son (then 22 yrs. old), ended up in the hospital for eight days with a collapsed lung. It took about a month to get him back on track. We are grateful for Adventist Health, who granted us a charity case and covered our medical bills. Our son is on the autism spectrum and suffers from ADHD. He suffers from severe anxiety and depression. He has scoliosis and suffers from a spinal injury (happened in 9th grade) and lives with chronic pain. I am his caregiver, (and Mom), which can be extremely difficult at times.
Then came COVID and the stay-at-home orders. I stayed home with our son and my husband kept working at our small business which is out of town from where we live. We own a small pool store, and my husband runs it. He does pool maintenance route and installs/repairs equipment. (It was considered an essential business). My spouse has worked husband for the company since he was young, it was owned by his father until he passed away in 2016. We purchased the business from his mother in 2017. The pandemic hit our business hard, the price of chemicals (and availability issues) and parts started increasing rapidly. We persevered through loans and grants. At a doctor’s visit in Sept. 2020, he tested positive for COVID. He missed a whole week of work, losing customers. He health had already been suffering.
In Oct. 2020, I had to go out of state to help my mom and dad. My Dad was having back surgery and my mom is starting to show signs of dementia. While I was gone, someone tried to get in a head on collision with my husband and totaled our little truck. We had no other option but to get another vehicle. We live in a rural area and transportation is a necessity
At the end of January 2021, my husband (he is 68 yrs. Old) had to have surgery. More work missed. This is when we started struggling financially. We started getting behind on our mortgage and electric bills. I was able to get help locally, at the time to pay for both. We were (are) three people trying to live on my husband’s Social Security retirement. I was able to put the mortgage in forbearance. He had to have surgery on his knee in August 2021. More work was missed. I have had to use our credit cards to keep up with most of the other bills. I am sure you know that is not sustainable. At the end of March 2022, he tripped and broke his wrist and had to spend 20 days in a skilled nursing to help with therapy. We are very grateful to the customers that stuck with us through all this. The business is barely making overhead, and we have not been able to get paid since 2021. Now it’s the slow time of year for our business.
Our mortgage stays in forbearance until the end of this month (Dec.). I did apply for mortgage assistance through the state and got it paid up until Sept. 30. We are currently 3 months behind. We need to make three on-time payments in a row before the mortgage company discusses, redoing the loan. The goal is to change it to a low-income loan and lower the monthly payment.
I am hoping that we can raise enough money to pay the bills for medical, home, and family. We will be forever grateful for any amount you can contribute. I am not asking for a handout, just a hand up! I kindly ask for your consideration and will pay it forward when I am able to do so. Thank you. Humbly, Lisa Page
1/12/2023
My sweet Mother passed away suddenly on 1/5/2023, I am devastated! We are hoping to raise enough $ to travel out of state to help my father and to be with family.
04/26/2023 I am extremely grateful for all the donations we have received so far, I am learning to keep the faith that things will be alright. I am beginning a Disability claim to help bring in more $. I am hoping that eventually we can get back on track, but it seems like I get one step forward, only to go two steps back. But I will perservere and keep givu=ing back the only way I am able, by volunteering in my community. We are blessed with so many caring people in our lives! Thank you and may God send his blessings to you and yours!
I am back again with a desperate plea for help again. We have fallen behind on our mortgage again and need to come up with 3 months of payments ASAP. If you have any help you could spare will be appreciated! We are still struggling along as I am dealing with more medical problems!