Unfortunate for me, the courts are MAKING ME (in essence, to hang myself) by going to court with or without a lawyer because I can't afford one! What kind of country is this?
I asked for a 4-6 year adjournment to find a scholarship and go to law school, but that was out of the question 8)

Anyway, my question.. I have already been to the status hearing and the trial date is set. My father has just been administered to the hospital for cancer and the prognosis does not look good. Can I and how would I go about petitioning the court for a trial date extension at this point?

Go to the clerk's office and fill out a form for a continuance. State your reasons in the strongest terms. While you are there, stop off at the public defender's office. Despite what you seem to think, judges do not like to see defendants appear before them without an attorney. You may qualify for a free attorney or one at a reduced rate, depending on how they do things in your state.

I appeared in court in many capacities over the years: police officer, probation officer, bailiff. Just about every day I was there I saw judges giving defendants every opportunity to get an attorney. The only time I saw them "force" a defendant to appear without an attorney was in cases where the judge felt the defendant's actions had demonstrated that they waived their right to have an attorney.