FINALLY GOT A “CARES ACT” ZOOM GRANT

 

I finally landed a grant to help me get through the COVID-19 work slowdown. It took long enough!

 

I ended up applying for a SBA loan, too, earlier this year, but now that I have a grant, I  may be able to pay off the loan in a single payment. (I’m checking with my grant advisor to see if it’s kosher to pay off a SBA loan with federal grant money. If it is, I think want to do that, because I loathe owing money!!!)

 

I didn’t get unemployment help, or PPP help, or anything else I applied for, not because I wasn’t eligible (I was, according to all the information I read), but because the application systems weren’t running right, or were overloaded with applicants and the money ran out for a time, so I kept getting kicked off.

 

My employer of record wasn’t recognized by the Employment Security Department so I ended up writing them a “HELP!” letter and mailing it. Crickets. Never heard a word back.

 

I thought the $5K SBA EIDL loan would be a grant; turns out, it wasn’t.  But it helped me get through the past six months, and now that I have a way to pay it back, I think I want to do that to save the interest fees that will accrue if I were to pay it off over a period of years.

 

But the lack of business remains, so I may need the grant money to keep on keepin’ on. With so many lives still on the skids, freelance writing work has dwindled so much, and peoples’ finances have shrunk so much, that it’s nearly impossible to find clients who can (and are willing) to pay professional prices for professional writing services.  I’ve lowered my prices significantly to see if I can land more clients, and I’m still having a heckuva time…

 

Eight months of this has been gut-wrenching, and I don’t know how many more months the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to strap businesses and entrepreneurs.  I’m looking for work like mad, every day online, but I haven’t landed the number of clients I need to reliably keep my head above water.

 

I know that a lot of solopreneurs are in the same boat, and that literally millions of families are struggling even if they haven’t lost family members. It’s truly tragic that so many people in the U.S. are hamstrung by a government that seems unwilling to help when we need it most acutely (through NO fault of our own).

 

I hope that changes in January. Heck, I hope it changes before then, but I’m certainly not holding my breath.

 

If Georgia elects two democrats in the January 5th runoff election, obstructionist Mitch McConnell will have his teeth pulled and we should begin to see some forward movement that will help us all survive.

 

Failing that, we’re going to have to keep struggling for longer than any of us want to (or that many even can).

 

We need some significant relief sooner rather than later. A shot at getting the vaccine is still months away for most of us. Between now and then and the beginning of the end of this pandemic, a lot more businesses and people are going to fall through the cracks.

 

It’s unacceptable!