HELP ASTRID RECOVER & KEEP BEAUXDEGA READY FOR THEIR RETURN!

(We've repurposed our original fundraiser for BEAUXDEGA to help hasten the process, as the linked accounts are pre-verified)

Last Sunday, after a year of devastating difficulties and continuing perseverance, Astrid was hit by a car while walking to their parent’s house in St Johns. They are luckily alive and without any broken bones, but sustained full body injuries, rending them unable to work for a few weeks.

The driver gave them his name, but because they were in shock, they were unable to retain any information, and he failed to call 911 or alert his insurance, or get their contact information to follow up in any way. Portland Police Bureau is, of course, refusing to aid us in locating this person to get in touch as they feel that would be very difficult, leaving us with very few options to support Astrid through this time while already pulled so thin financially.

ANY & ALL donations would be DEEPLY appreciated, and we will work quickly to offer other avenues to support including direct personal finance links, merch, products, as well as updates! If you’d like to read more of our story, please keep scrolling, it’s a WILD ride.

We’ve repurposed our original funding link here on GFM which was originally to help overcome some of the financial barriers to a quick open, but previous funds were used as stated & intended–to purchase our initial equipment and lease on the space. Recycling the link just cuts the approval time, distributing funds directly into our business account on a weekly deposit. If you wish to donate directly to Astrid personally, or faster, please check on and reach out via Antha & Astrid’s socials.

THE BACKSTORY

Last winter we announced our plans to bring our new concept, A&A BEAUXDEGA, a QPOC owned Night Cafe to North Portland’s historical Mississippi Ave and take residence in Astrid's hometown neighborhood in our on-site live above apartment. We experienced some SERIOUS delays. In order to ensure the success of the project, we had to sell our house.

While we were selling and renovating the house we used to live in, our personal vehicle had a surprise engine error that rendered it a total loss, and without compensation we were unable to replace it, affecting our ability to move around, make money via catering or deliveries, make it out to events etc. Unfortunately Antha's car had been stolen and destroyed somewhere in Washington.

As such, we were borrowing Astrid’s parents’ cars when we needed to transport, but despite their generosity, we were still moving at a heavily reduced pace, for obvious reasons, but we were slowly and steadily making progress toward remodeling and re-licensing the space for our uses. At the end of October, we were finally getting ready for a soft-launch so as not to miss out on our favorite holiday season: Halloween, and we were caught in a three car crash caused by a drunk driver swerving into oncoming traffic.

The crash was scary and devastating already, with the drunk driver hitting and totalling another car that flipped into Myia’s car which we were driving back from our stock trip, totalling it from behind. The driver who initiated this crash fled the scene during the 4 ½ hours it took for PPB to respond to the scene. The insurance was able to pay off the car note, but left nothing to replace her car. Fast forward three weeks, and that brings us to...

THE ACCIDENT

Due to the previous loss of both vehicles, we were left with walking and public transit, so when they decided to head to their parent’s house Sunday evening, Astrid chose to walk. They were almost to the family home, and crossing a street near the park at the Columbia Annex on N Willamette Drive, where they were hit by a distracted driver.

When they were hit, they were pushed up onto the hood of the car, sustaining full body injuries from their torso to their feet-requiring a lot of rest and recovery. As a two person only team, that’s a huge loss, and makes opening at full capacity an even further out of reach prospect.

THE BUSINESS PROGRESS & GOOD NEWS

Over the past year we have been pulling together new equipment, monetary contributions, and systems while working out the complexities of operating a seriously micro space with SO many ambitions and such high visibility and foot traffic. We are committed to bringing a quality experience, most especially to the Historically Black neighborhood their family has been in for three generations, as this is Astrid’s dream for beginning their legacy in their hometown.

We were excited to open as soon as possible, especially since we have reached the limit of our current funding, with some work still to be done bringing the facility up to compliance and final licensing that we would have been able to move on if the accidents hadn’t happened, especially within the span of a month! Life is not letting up, definitely. With December rent quickly approaching, we need help salvaging the project which is also maintaining our housing, since we live above the shop.

Because of the circumstances, we’ll be exploring ways to quickly pivot during this time of recovery, including opening up our website with some merch and products, and considering the possibility of opening the brick & mortar for retail and community hangs, adding in our food and beverage program as it becomes financially viable from recouping the costs. Luckily, we have 3 years left on our lease–

We still feel VERY strongly about the importance of providing a QPOC led, locally owned & operated, all ages, sober friendly, open late space for nourishment, art, style and love for our city!

We are ALMOST THERE! ANYTHING HELPS! NO DONATION TOO SMALL! Please help us keep the dream alive