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Starting Over in Portland: Expenses

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Serene and Ali are moving to Portland!

After five years of moving from town to town on the academic job market, ​we've decided to start over in a place where ​I can find long-term, stable work​, and where there are possibilities for flourishing in community. 

As I transition away from the ever-contracting world of higher ed (not without tears), and with the help of a career counselor, I hope to turn my degree into a satisfying and sustainable career in consulting. ​ Until this gets up and running reliably, I'll be taking on smaller contract work to make ends meet.

We are reaching out to our larger community  for help with a few basic moving/work expenses. I had hoped to cover these things with university resources, but am left without a summer contract. We plan to move in​ mid-​
June, and are already building support systems in Portland. 

We will have to take unemployment and Medicaid for Serene for a few months and will cover remaining expenses with your help. These include moving expenses for a single U-Haul Ubox, a few months' ACA health insurance for Ali, occasional child care for job interviews and job hunting meet ups, a used computer to replace Ali's work machine, a car tune-up and gas for our cross-country trip,  and career counseling to help Ali start a solid​and sustainable new career.   

This support means the world to us.

​I've worked very hard to make ends meet as Serene's sole caregiver and financial support, paying rent and child care expenses for the past five years while working full-time as a traveling Visiting Assistant Professor. This has meant taking on second jobs and maintaining a heavy academic job search throughout ​my time as contingent faculty at UNC,  William and Mary and Virginia Tech.​ I have worked hard to balance care-giving and professional advancement, and could not have done it without the support of the communities where I have lived with Serene. The support I have gotten has allowed me to put my heart and soul into teaching and writing, but this has not translated into professional security in academe.  As we transition to what I hope will be a place we can put down roots, we are putting the stress of this particular precarity behind us and really looking forward our new chapter.
 
We don't have  a financial safety net and are grateful for any funds we can raise to ​help defray the costs ​of moving cross-country​. ​It would be impossib​l​e​ for us​
without financial help. Knowing how many of our friends and family are struggling, ​we understand if you can't help.  For those who can, ​I am confident that, within a year, we will be in​ a much more solid position, moving forward, and in a position to help others. We are so grateful that you would consider helping us with this big transition!
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Donations 

  • Daphne Trigg
    • $5 
    • 6 yrs
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Organizer

Alison C.
Organizer
Blacksburg, VA

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