Ramona-Felicia R. Holmes 429 N. Washington Street Baltimore, Maryland 21231 My name is Ramona-Felicia R. Holmes and I am asking for any help that you may be willing to give. I am in a horrible position and find myself desperately in need of financial assistance. I am aware that this is probably one of many letters that you receive begging for help. I am neither proud nor pleased to be in this unavoidable position. At this point I find that I am much more desperate than worried about my pride; therefore I am forced to ask for assistance being in jeopardy of great financial ruin. Please allow me to explain how I found myself in this position where am in such a dire straits. I was successfully matriculating at Coppin State University majoring in Nursing. I worked fulltime at a State Hospital for the Criminally Insane and was also fortunate to work enough overtime (1-3 days a week) on a consistent basis to help pay my bills. My tuition was paid by a combination of credit card, Pell grant, and two scholarships; one that required me to perform work in underserved areas for several years, and the second to promote clinicians for future Mental Health Professions. Then three months before my senior year was to begin a health condition arose in the summer of 2008. I had been suffering with a hernia for nearly a year and it had begun to be too painful to ignore. It began to repeatedly trap my intestines in the tear in the muscle; which would then frequently send me to the emergency room. I found myself in the Emergency Department over five times during the spring/summer of 2008 and I had begun to take ever increasing doses of prescribed narcotic pain medications which began to affect my ability to perform in class, at work and in clinical rotations. My doctor urged me to have this hernia repaired and assured me that it would be a relatively minor surgery. So, two weeks later after completing my summer course, I went in for what was supposed to be a routine surgery on July, 31, 2008. It was to take approximately 45 minute to an hour. I remember lying there on the table thinking soon there would be no more pain. I was nervous but excited imagining my return to College in the fall of 2008 to complete my senior year in the nursing program and to my begin my new career, only to awaken three and a half weeks later out of a medically induced coma in Johns Hopkins Cardiac Critical Care Unit, and being told something went terribly wrong. I spent over a month in critical care, a week on a step down unit and three months in a rehabilitation/nursing home. Apparently, there was a very large blood clot that lodged in my lungs. Luckily, the clot was found when I became unconscious and unresponsive in the recovery area. I was given a poor prognosis in CCU, with a 20% chance to survive. There was a ventilator that breathed for me when I suffered respiratory failure and a dialysis machine cleaned my blood as my kidneys shut down and machines that kept my heart pumping due to heart failure. The doctors told my mother that I may never regain consciousness nor be the same cognitively after coding during transport to the CCU. Miraculously, I regained consciousness without any serious cognitive deficits, nothing more than some degree of memory loss. While in the coma I suffered some minor impairments; temporarily losing the ability to use my right lower leg and foot due to foot drop syndrome right sided weakness, some lung problems, vocal cord callouses and numerous scars due to severe bed sores and a long surgical scar. I regained my ability to walk again over the next year through rehab therapy. I have also spent a year and a half receiving additional nursing care along with occupational / physical, anticoagulation therapies at my sister’s home with her four children. I lived in the basement for about two and a half years while recuperating. Although, it was quite an ordeal; I have never stopped trying and will not stop trying to return to my normal life. Currently, I am staying with my mother who has a one bedroom disability equipped apartment until my home can be equipped and I can move back home. Unfortunately, my recovery has not been a smooth one resulting in several additional hospitalizations and additional surgeries over the years. There were procedures to drain and disinfect seromas that opened in my stomach. I also suffered from constant pain, frequent pneumonias, infections, strictures of internal organs and a case of meningitis. I realized during the course of this ordeal that I was unable to return to school as planned in the fall after so many medical setbacks and complications. This has forced me to miss several semesters. Thankfully, I am improving slowly and look forward to returning to Coppin in the fall of 2013 to complete my Nursing program that due to the DDA act will allow my completion. While sitting out from my Nursing program I decided to utilize my time wisely and pursue the course requirements for an additional degree in Psychology during the winter, spring and summer sessions utilizing online technology. This degree will benefit me in my career and also expand my future career options. I still have every intention of working in Mental Health. I am asking if you would please consider these extenuating circumstances when making a decision to help me. I am in a very tight financial situation due to my illness; I am unemployed due to the complications that have resulted from my illness. It is important for you to know that I am not a freeloader or deadbeat. I am and always have been a hard worker. I have been working since I was (11) eleven years old. I worked through middle school and high school to help pay bus fair and other expenses. I always expected that hard work would payoff in a better life and I really think I was living a better life than I ha prior. Just being able to pay my way was for me a great accomplishment. I did not have a need to ask for financial help for my daily needs, I saved for the big things I wanted and I was able to help my family and others who found they occasionally lacking. I had been employed by the State of Maryland for the last six years working at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center a Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, as a Psychiatric Security Technician/Nursing Assistant which I absolutely loved and prior I have twelve years’ experience with the developmentally disabled and the mentally ill population. Before my work in Forensic Psychiatry I worked as a Correctional Officer with the MD Department of Corrections and was placed in the Mentally Ill population where I was able to help several inmates’ access mental health services and which really began my interest in Mental Health. It is my plan to complete my Nursing program and earn both my Nursing and Psychology degrees and to return to Psychiatry as a Registered Nurse upon graduation. Unfortunately, I had to take a medical retirement on July 01, 2009, so there are little to no funds for the tuition and books, which are incredibly expensive. I am currently on a fixed income consisting of a modest social security disability check and an even more modest retirement. Between the two income sources I receive a little more than half of what I made when I was able to work. Although, I am fortunate for the financial assistance that I have been given, it is impossible to meet all of my financial responsibilities on a fraction of my previous salary. I am fortunate still to have a reliable mode of transportation however I am unable to repair the heat and air-conditioning that has been broken for the last three years which in this climate makes it not only terribly uncomfortable but also dangerous to my health to drive in extreme weather. Here in Maryland we have pretty long and harsh winters and in hot and humid summers. In addition, I am unable to pay my enormous water bill which has gone unpaid for several years due to my ability to only pay mortgage in full. I pay a portion of my utility bill and whatever is left goes towards my property tax but there simply is not enough money to handle the majority of my bills. Therefore, I am also in the process of losing my home due to foreclosure by the city. The city is foreclosing on my home for nearly forty thousand in back for the last four years taxes housing code violations, and back water bills. I have been unable to maintain the grass, painting and repairs and to add insult to injury my home is now unsuitable for habitation since severe winter weather has damaged my pipes and flooded my home causing unbelievable damage and mold. I simply am at my wits end. I am just treading water trying to keep my head above but sinking fast. I simply cannot pay all of my bills out of what I get. I have consulted a lawyer regarding filing bankruptcy that hopefully will save my home by doing a chapter 13 repayment plans. Unfortunately, that too creates a dilemma due to the enormous monthly repayment amount. The only other option is to let the city foreclose which will truly leave me homeless, being that the rents here in Maryland has risen enormously since I last was a renter and with my credit situation my prospects will be terribly bleak. I use my social security to pay for my mortgage, a portion of my property tax and home insurance. My retirement pension is used to pay for what necessities, prescriptions and medical co- pays which are numerous and enormous. There have been several months in which I am unable to afford my prescription co-pays which are around $164 a month after insurance and so if I can find the money I purchase the most important ones and simply go without the others and or break pills in half to extend what I have. Rarely if ever have been any funds left over so I do without luxuries. If there is no money for gas I try to walk to appointments, ask for rides or simply do not go. I do not have any discretionary funds therefore there are no movies, dinners out, trips, vacations shopping or cable. As I stated earlier, I am left with very few options to be able to stave off financial ruin. I would be very grateful for any assistance that you could offer. I am more than willing to produce any and all documentation to prove that I am being completely transparent. I am also willing sign a form to release my medical records; or whatever proof you may require. I can be reached by mail at my home address still which is: 429 North Washington Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21231-1121, by e-mail at Mojomona@ymail or messages may be left on my mother’s telephone at (410)276-1154. Thank you for your consideration, Ramona-Felicia R. Holmes Ramona-Felicia R. Holmes
Posted on: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 23:28:47 +0000
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