Frozen bank account, debt collector?

Okay, so I have a bit of a situation, and I don't know much. I'm gonna say everything in order. Last summer I was working at a summer job and needed to have money in my bank account and didn't have time that day so I used the function on my smart phone to take a picture and deposit my check. I dropped that check in a box under my bed and forgot about it. Around December of last year my family and I were moving to our new apartment but we had to get some money together. As I was packing I found this check and at the time honestly couldn't remember why I wouldn't have used this check in the summer when I got it. At first I thought it was a blessing, and decided to cash the check as we had a deadline to get the money together. We're not wealthy people, we have to work hard for our living which barely gets us by. We don't have help from the government or anything.

So we moved, and it's now a year later, and I get a letter in the mail telling me I have this debt collector after me for this check. It was a final notice warning me I had 10 days to pay my debt or I'd be in big trouble. I called them immediately and had the usual lawyer talk about how they wanna help me and I had to come up with at least half the money etc etc or I'd be in court and all. And I explained to them that there's no way I could come up with that money in such short notice, I asked if it were possible to make a payment plan and I'd gladly pay it off, he said no, that they've been contacting me for a year? This was the first notice I received from them. I explained that to him, he wasn't very interested.. Fine. I thanked him for his time but there's absolutely nothing I can do at this moment, I can't pull money out of my *** like that.

I live in New York City, I'm 20 years old working at a crummy dead end job for 8.50 an hour, can't afford college, trying to deal with life one day at a time and help my single mother of 3 with the bills. Now my bank account is frozen, and I can't do anything. Life just seems to enjoy kicking my *** huh?

I owe $830 roughly, and I read about The Exempt Income Protection Act stating that bank accounts can't be frozen if the debt is under $1,740? Not to mention my account is never ever above $50 dollars, and the only day it is? Is on payday, where on my lunch break, I pay my bills and my money's all gone all over again.

I'm happy to pay it off, but what am I supposed to do when they're stopping me from my funds, which supplies my transportation to work? My food? My bills? I don't know what to do.