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Hello, I am Priyank Kumar, running this fundraiser on behalf of my friend Brian Blassingame. Brian lives in Colorado Springs, is neurodivergent with Asperger's Syndrome and is going through homelessness to be able to provide for his family in the Philippines. Brian is an American citizen hailing from Fort Worth, Texas; he has worked as a Greenpeace canvasser and activist, an English instructor, ballot access petitioner and is an extremely talented bamboo craftsman and flute maker. I had run a similar fundraiser about an year ago. Unfortunately, Brian and his family are facing the same challenges again this time of the year, his current line of work(petitioning) being seasonal and his benefits getting in another hiccup.
Current Situation:
Brian is currently stuck in the US away from his family who he
has been supporting on his disability benefits. Brian returned to
the US after losing his job in the Philippines during the 2008-09
crash on a repatriation loan from the government. Ever since his
return to the US he has faced immense financial and social
challenges in his day to day life and in providing for his family.
Not least on account of how the neurodivergent are treated in our
society.
Presently, to make matters worse, his appeal for SSI was
dismissed recently by an administrative judge, his lawyer refused to
appeal in the higher court, stating his case would be stronger 10
months later when he is close to 55. The Colorado state benefits are
contingent on having an active appeal for SSI and retaining an
attorney, both these conditions failing, Brian will not receive his
state benefits for the next month. He expects a gig in September,
however the payment from it won't come much later. His family in
Philipines has not been able to pay last month's rent as is and
is facing eviction in a week. Moreover, Brian's
daughter is suffering from an apparent infection on her foot, her
mom has no money to take her to a doctor for diagnosis let alone
treatment. They are also about to lose their utilies and are nearly
out of food. They are in dire need of financial assistance.
What will be the money used for?
The entire sum raised will go to Brian's family for
rent and bills. $100 is the rent they are already due and about $80
for bills, the rest is for food and other necessities. All
contributions will go to Brian's paypal account. If
possible, any extra money raised will be used for food and necessary
expenses till Brian gets his benefits sorted out.
Background on Brian's situation
This circumstances described above may raise
questions in your mind as to the details like why Brian is stuck here?
Why doesn't he bring his family over? What challenges is he facing in
becoming financially stable? etc. The following account will provide
you with clarity on the situation. Please bear with the length of this
as his situation is particularly complicated and made worse by
bureaucratic tangles.
Below
is his story in his own words:
"I have not been allowed to see my family face to face or
hold them for over 7 years now. By way of introduction, they are my
wife Sherelyn who goes by Sheng (pronounced shāng) for short and our
two children Stanley (my stepson) and my daughter Lillian Inez. They
are in the Philippines and I am trapped here in United States and
not allowed to leave nor am I allowed to bring my family here. Here
(in short) is our story... I lived in the Philippines for 6 years
after going into voluntary exile in 2004 over Guantanamo, pointless
wars, etc. which I felt I could not stay here without facilitating.
During that time I met my wife Sheng, we fell in love, moved in
together and had our daughter Lillian Inez. I call Sheng my wife
because we are committed to stay together for life and we have a
family together. However because I overstayed my visa when I became
unable to pay immigration fees in order to stay with Sheng, this
made me an 'undocumented alien' and therefore ineligible to marry
under Philippine law. In 2009 like many people around the world I
was laid off from my job (I was working teaching Maritime English to
Eastern European and Russian Merchant Mariners, online for a German
shipping company.) We were going hungry and facing homelessness so I
had no choice but to go to the U.S. Embassy and take what is called
a repatriation loan and return to the United States in February of
2010. When you take a repatriation loan from the U.S. Government
they take your passport from you, punch holes in it and cancel it.
Then they give you a new one that is good for about a week to travel
back on. You cannot renew your passport until you repay the loan.
Herein lies the trouble, because I was struggling to support two
households (myself here and simultaneously my family in the
Philippines as well) there was never anything left to give the
government. I was therefore been unable to repay the (originally
$900 +) loan within the first 6 months after I returned. After the
loan became six months delinquent, it was given over to a collection
agency and an absurd usury was added to the debt. The last time I
looked at it (about two years into the process, so about 5 years
ago) they had mushroomed it into an over $23,000 debt. I don't know
what they claim I owe them now, maybe it is over a million dollars?
That has left me trapped here in the United States on the opposite
side of the world from my family, and my family without a husband
and father. The second part of this problem is that the only way I
could ever hope to afford to bring Sheng and the children here to
the U.S. would be via a fiancée visa but you are required to have
seen your fiancée face-to-face within 2 years and I have been stuck
here for 7 years. I tried very hard for the first two years to find
a co-sponsor for the fiancée visa but no one would help me. I have
now found someone willing to be a co-sponsor but I have to see her
face-to-face to even begin the fiancée visa process. Further adding
to the confusion is the matter of my daughter Lillian Inez'
citizenship. Because she is my daughter she has a right to be
recognized as a United States citizen. However when I was in the
Philippines, the U.S. Embassy (unlike in the cases of ALL other
Americans I have known there) refused to work with me at all on the
matter of my daughters' citizenship until I got her Philippine NSO
(National Statistics Office) birth certificate. Since we didn't have
the money to pay the bribes necessary to get this document quickly
it took two years for my wife to be able to get Lillians' NSO birth
certificate and by that time, I was back here in the United States.
I immediately contacted the U.S. Department of State thinking that
finally I would be able to get something done for my family. However
they then informed me that they were unwilling to work with me
anywhere on the face of the Earth, except for the United States
Embassy at Manila to which they are preventing me from returning...
I have been cut off at every turn. When I left the Philippines my
daughter was one and a half years old, now she is 9 and I have
missed her entire childhood. I cannot begin to describe to you the
amount of pain involved in that fact for her and I both.
On top of this all, I am an aspie which is to say that I have
Aspergers' Syndrome, a form of autism. (I hate saying 'I have'
because it makes it sound like a disease!) I also have Major
Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder which are
common comorbidity factors with Asperger's. I am currently fighting
for SSI and I am in the process awaiting the results of my appeal.
In order to be able to afford to send money to my family and take
care of them I have had to spend most of the last seven years
homeless. I am currently homeless and sleeping in my car. I have
been doing so since early December last year here in Colorado
Springs, Colorado. Actually depending on how you define homeless,
I've spent almost the entirety of the time since I returned to the
United States that way, since with rare exceptions the only times I
have been housed since returning to the United States has been upon
occasion living in motels."
In closing, I would thank you greatly for taking the time to
consider this appeal and reading this post. If you are able to
contribute anything, it will be immensely helpful and appreciated.
This spat of trouble has really made Brian's life that much worse,
though he was already facing immense challenges and pain day to day
before that. It's a small sum if we come together but it bears an
immense implication for his family's well being. So, I would request
you to consider contributing whatever amount you can and if you are
not able to contribute financially you can still be a huge help by
sharing this appeal with your friends and family.
Thank you.
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