Brian's Emergency Fund - Help During Pandemic

Hello friends,

My name's Brian and I'm a college student, writer and massage therapist located in Glendale, CA . 

I share an apartment where I pay $900 a month for rent. This also doubles as my studio where I practice massage.

The current Covis-19 health crisis has made it impossible for me to make a living.

Massage therapy is my only source of income. 

This fund is to help me make August rent for my room, and to 'maybe' help me throughout the rest of the summer and fall as the Covid-19 pandemic unfolds. 

I filled out a request for the PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Insurance) handled here in California by the EDD back in April. I was approved for $6513, but then 'disqualified' by the EDD because I put down I was unable to work or look for work during the pandemic.

I was being truthful, because we are in a modified 'stay at home order' and no one is hiring massage therapists. Still, my claim was disqualified and it's next to impossible to get a live human on the phone at the EDD. (I sent a complaint to my local Senator about the EDD but due to the overwhelming requests I probably won't here back from EDD for months.) 

The $6513 is the amount I was qualified to receive, which would've been more than enough to keep me afloat through December.

So what are my plans now? Technically, massage therapists aren't 'essential'. Though I have a few friends that have come back to me for private sessions, it's no where near the clientele I had before or sustainable. (And it's no wonder, we're in a pandemic. Most of us are in forced 'hermitage' right now.) 

So I've slowly building up a micro press to self-publish my fiction and poetry, and started a Patreon page for same. (This hasn't been the best time to release a book but it's a start.) You can view my work here https://dagdapress.com/  and   https://www.patreon.com/join/dagdapress . 

In the next few months I'd like to save up for a massage 'chair' to practice chair massage outside, in parks and in somewhat open settings. (These are fairly inexpensive but still out of reach when you're worried about rent.)  

Essentially I plan to adapt, but right now the opportunities are nil for those of us on the lower rung of the ladder. So that's why I'm here, to ask for a little help while I pull myself back up.

Thanks for reading about my predicament, and I appreciate the help! 

Brian Tolbert
Glendale, CA. 

Here's a link to a recent Instagram post where I posted a complaint letter to my Senator about the EDD and their (mis)handling of the PUA. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCgg5clJH7t/