Personal:  I am 43 years old. I am a firefighter and have been for 8 years.  I also work a part time job. I currently make around $48000.00 a year.  I am married and have one child, 5 years old.  My wife is a school teacher.Credit: My score is this because I have had some hard times in the past, just like many people.  I lived in Flordia when Hurricane Andrew came through and it destroyed my business.  Recovery after that was hard.  Once I got married in 1999, we purchased a home and we started working on getting our credit straightened out.  In 2001, I was diagnosed with a non-malignant brain tumor and was out of work because of surgery to cure me.  This caused me to get behind in most of my bills.  I am an honest citizen who works very hard and wants more than anything to get ahead and provide better for my family.  I want to get this loan to get "caught up" on some outstanding bills, pay some things off, while building my credit all at the same time.  I plan to work very hard towards making extra payments towards this loan so that I can have it paid off before the 3 years is up.Why: I am turning to Prosper for the help that I need because the lending industry as a whole does not care about the little guy. You have to have a very well established credit or you can not get a loan. The people that will give you a loan want you to pay an interest rate of 30% or more.  I heard about Prosper on one of the News "Investigative" stories and thought is was truly a gift that I heard it because I thought this is exactly what I needed.   I hope that you are the ones that will give me a chance to prove myself!Thanks: Thank you for taking the time to review my listing to see if it meets your criteria as a lender to loan me the money I am seeking to better myself.  I hope there is someone out there that will give me a chance.   PLEASE LOOK!!!!   Thanks to those of you who have bidded in the past.....please continue to bid on this!