Disabled Former Semi Driver Seeks Business Grant For Restaurant

by Charles Costa
(Chandler, Arizona, USA )

I am 54 years old. I've been married 28 years, and have four full-grown stepdaughters, eight full-grown grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

I've been on disability for fourteen months. I want to get back in to the community. I do not like sitting at home watching the clock tick.

Needless to say collecting $1,671 a month on disability leaves no extra money for any kind of general life.

My disabilities are emphysema, congestive obstructive pulmonary disease, an enlarged heart, hypertension, stress related depression.

I was admitted into a hospital in Castaic California, the Henry Mayo Clinic, in December 2009.

I was diagnosed with double pneumonia and released. I continued working without the knowledge of having emphysema and the other disabilities.

My breathing never seemed to improve. May 4, 2010 I admitted myself to a hospital in Sweetwater Texas.

At the time of both incidents I was a commercial long distance driver. My condition seemed to be a threat to the public.

There was a realistic chance that I could fall asleep or pass out while driving. Thankfully I do not feel like my lung condition is deteriorating.

I do not qualify to drive a semi due to the oxygen level in my body. This is still not above 94 percent. To my knowledge I am classified with full disability.

To increase my earnings I have been listing things on eBay and the Internet. Unfortunately I either break even, or earn only a small profit.

I've placed several job applications that I thought I would have been qualified to do, just to be turned down for either lack of experience or not certified in operating a forklift. It seems that no one in America is willing to train anymore.

I am looking for a grant to start a small restaurant near my house to increase my income and improve our lives.

This grant would relieve the stress and frustrations created by my lack of income. I am in no way supporting my household as I should.

I am looking to start a small restaurant near my house, selling Chicago style hot dogs, Italian roast beef sandwiches, fresh cut French fries, and Italian sausage simmered in spaghetti sauce, lasagna, and pizza.

There are no restaurants of this style within a five-mile radius. I feel that this style of restaurant will do extremely well.