From Alan: A Personal Note

Everyone-
We still need to raise $350 this week.  It is painful for me to have to dwell on this, but it can’t be avoided.
A Personal Note:
Many of you know me from the various news programs, documentaries, interviews that I’ve been doing, or the articles and book that I've written about student loans over the years, but there is a lot about me that very few people realize, and I think it’s important that you all know the details, so that you understand this movement better.  
So you know:  I'm 53 years old. I've spent my entire adult life under these predatory loans, most of that time (nearly 20 years) fighting it.  This has come at a personal cost on many, many levels. I live in what was a decades-long-abandoned building in the woods in North Wisconsin (I'll attach a photo). For the first year I was here, I had no running water (and still don't have a working septic system), a badly leaking roof, and other shortcomings, particularly during the coldest winter months where the temperature never gets above freezing and gets down to -40 F a couple of times most years.
I have no healthcare, no retirement savings, no cable TV or other luxuries that many take for granted.  I don't even have a working vehicle at the moment, don't take welfare or any other public assistance, and struggle constantly to even pay the phone/heat/internet bill most months.
That is the reality of my day-to-day existence, if you don’t know me.
Because I decided decades ago to never do deals with bad people, sell our members out to the student loan industry, or do other bad things for money that would corrupt our mission, it has been, is now, and probably will be very financially difficult for me for the foreseeable future.   I won’t bore you with the details of the hardships this has brought over the years (ie going to bed hungry countless times, brief stints of homelessness, taking ketchup packets from 7-11, and other rather humiliating survival dynamics). Suffice it to say it’s been rough. But necessary.  Those darkest days are (hopefully) behind me now, but the humility and lessons learned will stick with me forever.  
I'm not a saint.  Not a martyr.  I’m not trying to win your sympathy, here, I’m just trying to convey to you the reality of my existence, and the reality about this group and our fight.
I’m not complaining either. I wake up every day…EVERY day…and for nearly every waking hour fight this battle, because it must be fought, and literally no one else in this country is actually fighting it. I FIGHT FOR YOU. And I’m truly happy to do it, by the way.  I actually feel privileged to be fighting for this very necessary and noble cause.
Our group has, in fact, led the national, public discourse on student loans, particularly in recent years, and that is remarkable, given the hurdles we’ve faced. But for this group (and this petition), student loan cancellation by executive order would have never become a national issue.  But for this group we would not have seen- and will not see- meaningful bankruptcy legislation in Congress.
I hope the importance of this group, our achievements, and the fact that we have accomplished to much despite huge hurdles is not lost on you.
I don't complain, but a little help to ensure that this group, all that we've achieved- and all that we are poised to accomplish- doesn't disappear from existence for lack of the nominal funding we need to continue is of paramount importance to me. A little support from the members towards that end doesn't strike me as expecting too much. 
To those of you who have been helping in this historic fight (you know who you are) with financial support (and most significantly, your actions): you know I appreciate, respect, and salute you to no end. We are truly the pioneers, and history will judge us most favorably. 
To everyone else, I can only implore you to take this battle, and this group, far more seriously going forward.  We are literally the only group in the country that is fighting this battle as it must be fought. The other groups in this space have all made deals with the student loan industry that guarantees they will never actually solve this problem, but rather will only perpetuate it and exploit it. 
This has become a very big fight.  The loans are turned back on now, and we- all of us- face a predatory lending system that has not changed, structurally, at all.  Things are going to get very brutal for us. For you, yourself, in all likelihood. The sooner you realize that fact and act on it,  the sooner we’ll win this battle. 
I hope this serves to enlighten you a bit about me and this group, and our importance.  We have some very big, bold plans for the near future, and we need you to help fight more than ever. 
Thanks for listening.
Alan