Help Amy Kick Crisis to the Curb
Donation protected
Amy Salloway is one of the most creative, brilliant, honest, and hilarious people we know. Words like "comedy," "storytelling," and "teaching" don't fully explain what Amy does. She writes and performs from a deeply personal place that somehow includes all of us, about the struggle to feel comfortable in her body; to survive being rejected, bullied and harassed; to be vulnerable because it's the only way to be human. Amy has voiced so many things we couldn't, with humor and grace, and defended our right to feel validated, accepted and worthy of love, regardless of our culture's need to judge.
Right now, Amy is having an incredibly difficult year -- on top of a string of difficult years. Here's some background info from her (and please note, she did not want to create a GoFundMe, and wouldn’t have done so herself, but we asked if we could please make one on her behalf). Says Amy:
"Since my early 20's, I've lived with several autoimmune disorders, the most pervasive being Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Most people who have CFS alternate between periods where the illness is active, and periods of remission, and that was true for me as well, until a few years ago.
"In 2013, a combination of accumulating stressors and a significant life trauma turned the dial on every health issue I'd been dealing with up to 11. My Chronic Fatigue became constant and debilitating, limiting my energy, focus and stamina, making it impossible to hold a full-time job, and, often, even to leave the apartment. My GI issues, sleep disorder and depression worsened. I developed peripheral neuropathy. I was diagnosed with PTSD. Over the past three years, my world has shrunk down to only the most basic functions. I feel isolated, desolate, and terribly low in the self-esteem department. There are days when I feel like everything that made me ‘me’ is gone.”
Amy's been fighting to keep going and stay financially afloat despite her health problems. She's thrown whatever energy she has available into everything she's still able to do: tutoring, teaching, childcare, story coaching, writing and performing. But because of the sporadic nature of that work, it hasn't created livable income, especially in the face of the other curveballs that life is so fond of pitching. This January, her apartment flooded (for the second time in two years), and she spent several weeks just dealing with the repairs and ruined belongings. In February, her SNAP food support ended, and she also lost her health insurance for three months due to a clerical error. A few days ago, her social worker helped her submit an all-new, expedited application for SNAP, general assistance and emergency assistance, and she was denied all three. In the words of the social worker, “This is a vivid example of someone falling through the cracks in the system.”
It's time for Amy to get a break. She desperately wants a different life, but she can't build one from a constant state of crisis.
Remember Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, from psychology class? The pyramid that shows what needs we have to have filled before we can take on increasingly advanced functions, like learning new skills, or achieving our creative goals? Well, when you have no cushion of income, savings, stability or safety, and are perpetually scrounging and frightened, you're at the way bottom level of that pyramid -- survival mode. You have no spare energy to devote to CHANGING your circumstances. And with no change in circumstances, you remain in crisis, in survival mode.
That's where Amy's at.
Let's help her level up on the pyramid.
Let's build Amy a safety net of funds -- enough to cover a few months of rent, utilities, groceries, and a filled bus card. Having these needs met would let her focus her time and energy on advancing her life, career and well-being forward again. For example, she'd be able to:
· Seek out better health care providers and treatment options that might make a difference in her physical and mental functioning
· Establish a solid routine of self-care, which is one of the most vital elements in managing chronic illness
· Find an improved housing/living situation
· Redesign and update her website, and reboot her marketing efforts as a touring performer, teaching artist, writer and storytelling coach
· Submit stories for publication, and get on the path towards writing a book
· Begin a serious, strategic job search, seeking out those ideal opportunities that are a great match to her awesome skills in theatre, teaching and narrative arts, and that also work with her limitations, and that also, you know, pay money.
Amy has stepped up to the bravery plate time and time again, for as long as we've known her, as an artist and a human being. In the face of increasing physical and financial precariousness, she's made another brave and self-affirming choice -- to let us work with her to advocate for getting her needs met. Through all of these challenges and losses, there are things Amy’s hung onto: her honesty, empathy, creative passion, sense of humor, and deep love for her friends. It's time we – her friends, peers, students, audience members and, heck, fans -- give her a hand when she needs it most.
Please contribute whatever you’re able, and if you’re not in a place to help out financially, we very much understand. There are a lot of worthy causes out there, and a lot of need. We (“We” includes Amy) are immensely grateful for every contribution of every kind, including emotional support and positive energy.
Thanks SO much!!
[To learn more about Amy and her work, visit:
www.amysalloway.com
https://soundcloud.com/amysalloway
www.facebook.com/awkwardmomentonstage]
Right now, Amy is having an incredibly difficult year -- on top of a string of difficult years. Here's some background info from her (and please note, she did not want to create a GoFundMe, and wouldn’t have done so herself, but we asked if we could please make one on her behalf). Says Amy:
"Since my early 20's, I've lived with several autoimmune disorders, the most pervasive being Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Most people who have CFS alternate between periods where the illness is active, and periods of remission, and that was true for me as well, until a few years ago.
"In 2013, a combination of accumulating stressors and a significant life trauma turned the dial on every health issue I'd been dealing with up to 11. My Chronic Fatigue became constant and debilitating, limiting my energy, focus and stamina, making it impossible to hold a full-time job, and, often, even to leave the apartment. My GI issues, sleep disorder and depression worsened. I developed peripheral neuropathy. I was diagnosed with PTSD. Over the past three years, my world has shrunk down to only the most basic functions. I feel isolated, desolate, and terribly low in the self-esteem department. There are days when I feel like everything that made me ‘me’ is gone.”
Amy's been fighting to keep going and stay financially afloat despite her health problems. She's thrown whatever energy she has available into everything she's still able to do: tutoring, teaching, childcare, story coaching, writing and performing. But because of the sporadic nature of that work, it hasn't created livable income, especially in the face of the other curveballs that life is so fond of pitching. This January, her apartment flooded (for the second time in two years), and she spent several weeks just dealing with the repairs and ruined belongings. In February, her SNAP food support ended, and she also lost her health insurance for three months due to a clerical error. A few days ago, her social worker helped her submit an all-new, expedited application for SNAP, general assistance and emergency assistance, and she was denied all three. In the words of the social worker, “This is a vivid example of someone falling through the cracks in the system.”
It's time for Amy to get a break. She desperately wants a different life, but she can't build one from a constant state of crisis.
Remember Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, from psychology class? The pyramid that shows what needs we have to have filled before we can take on increasingly advanced functions, like learning new skills, or achieving our creative goals? Well, when you have no cushion of income, savings, stability or safety, and are perpetually scrounging and frightened, you're at the way bottom level of that pyramid -- survival mode. You have no spare energy to devote to CHANGING your circumstances. And with no change in circumstances, you remain in crisis, in survival mode.
That's where Amy's at.
Let's help her level up on the pyramid.
Let's build Amy a safety net of funds -- enough to cover a few months of rent, utilities, groceries, and a filled bus card. Having these needs met would let her focus her time and energy on advancing her life, career and well-being forward again. For example, she'd be able to:
· Seek out better health care providers and treatment options that might make a difference in her physical and mental functioning
· Establish a solid routine of self-care, which is one of the most vital elements in managing chronic illness
· Find an improved housing/living situation
· Redesign and update her website, and reboot her marketing efforts as a touring performer, teaching artist, writer and storytelling coach
· Submit stories for publication, and get on the path towards writing a book
· Begin a serious, strategic job search, seeking out those ideal opportunities that are a great match to her awesome skills in theatre, teaching and narrative arts, and that also work with her limitations, and that also, you know, pay money.
Amy has stepped up to the bravery plate time and time again, for as long as we've known her, as an artist and a human being. In the face of increasing physical and financial precariousness, she's made another brave and self-affirming choice -- to let us work with her to advocate for getting her needs met. Through all of these challenges and losses, there are things Amy’s hung onto: her honesty, empathy, creative passion, sense of humor, and deep love for her friends. It's time we – her friends, peers, students, audience members and, heck, fans -- give her a hand when she needs it most.
Please contribute whatever you’re able, and if you’re not in a place to help out financially, we very much understand. There are a lot of worthy causes out there, and a lot of need. We (“We” includes Amy) are immensely grateful for every contribution of every kind, including emotional support and positive energy.
Thanks SO much!!
[To learn more about Amy and her work, visit:
www.amysalloway.com
https://soundcloud.com/amysalloway
www.facebook.com/awkwardmomentonstage]
Organizer and beneficiary
Sarah Moore
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN
Amy Salloway
Beneficiary
