Need help, please

Hey all. I know we don't really post here anymore, because Twitter and FB are so much easier and quicker, but I need more than 144 characters to explain the situation we're currently facing.

A couple of weeks ago, Mike was fired for his sick time earlier in the summer, and even though his job has been reinstated, between that sick time and the near week of work he missed during this last debacle, we've had a lot of financial problems. We've borrowed all we can from family to the point where I think they dread our phone calls. We've applied for rent assistance and are still fighting with paperwork issues to get our rent caught up (though we're told that will be resolved "soon"). We're in the process of trying to apply for SSI for me, as well as applying for every private help program we can find (since the government deems us 'just above' the poverty line in income).

Tomorrow, we'll see Mike's first full paycheck since returning to work. While that's wonderful news for us, we have some very pressing needs that we cannot meet as yet. We're over-drafted at the bank after paying for necessities we couldn't live without, and a good half of tomorrow's check will be eaten by that overdraft. What's left will hopefully cover this week's rent and groceries.

However, the nice people over at the electric company would really like $185 before end of day tomorrow, or they're afraid they'll have to insist on turning us off. If that happens, they will not only require the $185 owed, but an additional month's charges and an additional deposit to turn our power back on.

So, here's why I'm writing. Please help. Even if it's a few bucks. I signed up for a Paypal account this morning under the email leladnut@gmail.com, or, for those of you who know us more personally, you know how to reach us. I realize this whole post is basically me begging for your help, and for a lot of you, this isn't the first time I've had to do that. I can only assure you that our financial situation is progressing toward "better" - just at a slower rate than our creditors would like to see. If you can't help, pray for us, please. If you don't pray, send us a positive thought, light a candle, pour one out, whatever you can do - even if it's just to send me a little hug on FB. If it's a loan, I swear we'll pay you back just as soon as we can. If it's a gift, I will find some way to pay it forward when we're back on our feet.

Thanks for reading,
Lela