Hi there. My name is August.

I've created this go fund me because I need help surviving an upsettingly common situation.

In two weeks, I am scheduled for a revision surgery tied to my gender-affirming surgery that I had last year. This surgery addresses complications that have caused persistent, daily pain.

Typically, this is the type of surgery you'd prepare for carefully utilizing resources like insurance and medical leave. To be clear, that was the plan!

But then I got let go from my job. Abruptly. Without warning.

I was told that I'm a good clinician, that I'd receive a good recommendation, and also somehow that I'm not the right fit. This news was delivered to me less than two weeks before my scheduled surgery. Meaning that I will lose insurance and not be eligible for FMLA to cover my post-surgery recovery.

Unemployment will not even come close to kicking in by the time my six-week recovery window begins.

I've built my work around providing therapy to trans clients who often face the exact same, or very similar challenges I'm dealing with. But this time, I'm the one in jeopardy, facing medical uncertainty, income loss, and the very real possibility of housing insecurity.

I'm also a parent, and that weight does not disappear just because my body and the system we all exist in happen to be failing in tandem.

So, what I am asking for/hoping for is $4000. That's not my full monthly income, it's around 2/3 of what FMLA would have offered me.

It's just enough to hold the line while I recover, so I don't have to choose between healing and homelessness.

This isn't unusual. Trans employees are consistently subject to unstable working conditions and abrupt dismissals that often leave us without protection, security, or a plan forward.

If you are able to donate, share, or offer any support, thank you.