Still
Building
NJ

I've been on disability for a long time. Nobody expected me to get up and start a business. But I wanted more than a limited income and a dead-end life. I realized that kind of life wasn't really living.

It wasn't easy. I had to fight my way out of an unhealthy, sedentary life and lose a lot of weight. But I found out that helping other people felt better than anything I'd done before. Once I got up, I couldn't go back to just sitting around.

During the pandemic, I started a taxi business. I never thought I'd own a business, but I loved building it. I loved having a business, period — and I think everyone should get to experience that. Down the line, things started going wrong. Some of it was my fault, and some of it wasn't.

I was completely upfront with Social Services, Section 8, and Social Security. I told them about the business, reported my income, and gave them profit-and-loss statements. At first everything seemed fine. Then, without warning, I lost my food stamps. After that, I lost my rental assistance.

The problem was that Social Services counts gross income, not net. I made money, but it went right back into the business. They counted all of it as income I could use to pay my household bills, and then they said I made too much. Social Services doesn't work like the IRS — they don't deduct business expenses. I was told, "Income is income. It doesn't matter."

After losing rental assistance and taking more hits, I couldn't afford my rent anymore. I closed the business. My daughter and I have been homeless for almost two years now, and we are presently living in transitional housing.

Even after closing the business, I couldn't go back to the life I had before — sitting at home with nowhere to go. Building something of my own changed me. I lost 170 pounds, got off my medications, and went through a real spiritual transformation. I keep learning new skills and finding ways to improve myself, even without basic necessities and even though I'm the black sheep of my family. This isn't over for me.

At first I thought I wanted to be a coach and help people get off junk food and sugar, the way I did. But once my daughter and I were homeless, building anything became a lot harder. I didn't have help, support, or money to pay someone to help me bring my ideas to life.

I started using AI out of desperation, just to keep building. I ended up making a website for a friend, and I really enjoyed it. I fell in love with creating things and bringing my ideas to life. That's what I want to do now — build apps, tools, and websites that help people use AI, start businesses from scratch, and become better versions of themselves.

I want to work. I don't want to stay on disability for the rest of my life. I want a plan — a real safety net that lets people like me build something gradually, without gaming the system, but also without having everything taken away before we can support ourselves.

If I could get off disability and live without struggling, I would never want to retire.

If I start earning money with the business, I risk losing the housing we have.

I no longer want to search for a cheap apartment. I want to increase my income so I can afford a decent place to live.

I want to be self-sufficient. It shouldn't be this difficult.

I'm not going to stop trying to find a way to do what I'm here to do.