I know I'll be criticised for seeking help from strangers, but I have nowhere else to turn. My name is Gabrielle, and I'm a disabled college student. My family and I are in massive debt (somewhere around $200k). I won't go into too many details, but it started when my grandmother developed Alzheimer's and my mother had to quit her job to care for her. It's been several years since, and my mother hadn't been able to get back into the job market because of it. One thing led to another, the situation snowballed, here we are.

We're about $200k in debt the last I estimated. Our credit cards are maxed, we're running on very little cash, and we recently received a summons from our credit card company. Mom has been unable to find a job, I am unable to work yet, and things are just getting worse. We can barely afford food anymore; I can't afford to get my wheelchair or my hearing aids fixed. I'm barely able to afford the transportation costs to school, and forget about textbooks.

I don't know what to do or where to turn. We have no family we can turn to for help, so I must turn to you. I ask if there's any way anyone out there can help. There is no way for me to pay you back, unless you would like to put in some art requests.

My mother is so unbelievably stressed out. She can't focus enough to get one full task taken care of. She hasn't had a solid four- to five-hours' sleep in months. I'm really freaking out, too, though not to her extent. I have nightmares about what's next to come. I haven't been able to focus on my schoolwork. I ended up failing one class this semester, and barely scraping by in my other class. I'm afraid of what another failure will do to my school financial aid.

My PayPal email address is [email protected]. Thank you.

Edit: Just started a GoFundMe http://www.gofundme.com/8x3jdo

I'm so sorry. I've been here with my mom. It's scary, but you do come back from it.

At this point, it's a really good idea for your mom to talk to someone about filing bankruptcy and definitely about seeking unemployment benefits if she hasn't already.

It's also so incredibly important you keep in school, even though I know it's stressful. If you ever need to vent, feel free to shoot me a mail, and if you have classes giving you grief, I can help you study.

Thank you. I'll mail you. She's been unemployed for too long to receive benefits, though. Ack, I hate begging. i feel so dirty, heh.