URGENT!! Please Please HELP!! (# 3.)

[debbie zanot <darkcat5@yahoo.com>]

Ridecampers
I hope that you have read part #1 and  #2 and have had
time to absorb the magnitude of this tragic situation.
Even though I have had only 3 emails of people who
were interested in helping a fellow horseman, I still
have faith that good people I know in this sport would
rise up and be generous. I asked Julie to explain in
more detail how they got to this brink of disaster. I
have included that coorespondence. Keep in mind these
people haven't ASKED for help, I asked THEM if I could
help them.  I am so sure that WE as a membership of
5,000 strong could do this easily giving what we can
according to our means. I f everyone gave $45. taht
would do it. Idealistic as I amy be I know not all
5,000 members will give but still the odds are good we
can do this anyway.
There aren't very many oportunities in this life to
actually be able to make a difference, and the
challenge here is TIME...March 4th is the deadline.
PLRASE! HELP!
If you have made a decision to help please send your
gift from the heart to:
Dennis and Julie Nowak
250 Oil Camp Rd
Marietta, SC 29611

--- WindCzar@aol.com wrote:
> Dennis was the manger of the RT (Respiratory
> Therapy) department at Doctor's 
> Memorial Hospital.  But the hospital had major money
> problems and closed it's 
> doors.  All the employees had 5 days warning.  This
> was after Wendy's auto 
> accident.  (When it rains it pours trouble has been
> true for us.)  Dennis had 
> been thinking and studying his idea of providing RT
> treatments for the 
> elderly in nursing homes.  So we prayed hard and he
> quickly made some 
> contacts with some area hospitals about it.  We
> rented a computer and other 
> equipment we needed and set it up in our bedroom at
> the foot of our bed, 
> because there was no room anywhere else in our small
> house to do it.  I was 
> the secretary (I use to be an office manager, plus
> owned my on computer 
> consulting compay once.) and Dennis went out and got
> the business.  He was 
> able to secure some contracts and with one of the
> hospital's assistance he 
> started doing treatments.  He was the first one in
> our area to do this.  It 
> grew dramatically, and there was a lot of success in
> preventing nursing home 
> patients from getting so bad they had to be admitted
> into a hospital, as well 
> as other benefits.  We rented an office and hired
> other therapists and it 
> grew and grew over the years.  Then, the year we
> knew the business would earn 
> approx. one million dollars the rug was snatched out
> from under us.  Medicare 
> was cutting benefits drastically.  About a month
> before they did it we got 
> the word that they were going to cut paying for RT
> in nursing homes.  We were 
> serving a very large area at that time.  Dennis
> contacted the nursing homes 
> who assured him that they needed his services and
> even if Medicare did cut RT 
> they would still require our services and pay for
> them.  However, Medicare 
> did stop reimbursement for RT and the nursing homes
> said, "Don't come back."  
> Some of the nursing homes owed us for between 30 to
> 90 days of services and 
> we never received any money from them, and they are
> set up in a way that we 
> had no recourse to collect it.  We paid all our
> employees, but there was 
> nothing left over to pay the payroll & other
> business taxes, nor our personal 
> taxes.  We had no income.  Dennis quickly got a job
> making about 19,000 a 
> year.  He soon got a second job.  And started
> looking for better jobs.  We 
> had 22 horses at the time.  We lost our truck and
> Den's Blazer, which was a 
> business lease.  We bought a '96 Olds and it took us
> 3 months to pay the down 
> payment on it.  Several months ago Dennis finally
> got a job managing a 
> medical home care equipment company.  He still works
> a second job too, and 
> our income is now approx $35,000 a year.  But our
> debt is extremely high.  (I 
> could easily show what all money we owe.)  I can't
> get a job because we only 
> have one car.  So I'm trying to get work building
> websites for people, but 
> like trying to sell our horses, we have no money to
> advertise.  I also built 
> an e-commerce store, but am having trouble getting
> products to sell because I 
> can only sell those that can be drop-shipped, since
> I can't buy products and 
> stock them.  (Which would raise the overhead
> anyway.)  Plus, I can't afford 
> to advertise it either.  I'm also taking care of the
> 8 horses we have left 
> and our farm.
> 
> We haven't been able to pay our mortgage regularly. 
> It was easy to pay when 
> our income was $150, to 175,000 yearly, but
> impossible at $20, to 30,000.  So 
> we sold horses and that's how we paid the mortgage
> payments that we did make. 
>  We did give away a few horses with special needs. 
> We have business debt 
> judgments and taxes against us.  Our house has been
> foreclosed on and is to 
> be auctioned to the public on March 5th.  (I talked
> to the Judge today and he 
> was very nice, but could do nothing to help us.)  We
> don't have any money.  
> We barely are able to pay our regular bills each
> month.  We have nothing to 
> move on.  No money for deposits or moving.  We don't
> know what we are going 
> to do.  I guess we will have to find a place to put
> our horses, if we can, 
> and live in our daughter's 2nd bedroom.  (They only
> have a small house.  They 
> just got married last July.)
> 
> I can't believe this is happening.  We are hoping
> and watching for any and 
> every opportunity to start another business or
> whatever we can find to try to 
> turn this all around.  Work doesn't scare us and we
> make a great team.  Now 
> we just need opportunities.
> 
> Thank you again for your help.  I don't know if this
> is what you're looking 
> for.  I'm sure I forgot something.  I'll call our
> freind that is the lawyer 
> tomorrow.
> Julie


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