Caius' Housing Emergency

Hi, I'm Caius Nocturne, a designer and illustrator from Brighton (most famous for the Mutant Standard emoji set) and I'm fundraising to help me through my current housing instability.

As many folks following me know, I escaped long-term domestic abuse in late 2022 and moved to a place in Brighton with my partner and cat. We knew we would have about a year here before our landlord wanted to sell the place and the idea was that we would recover and gain stability to move on. However, my own recovery did not go as planned.

My main source of income (freelance graphic design & illustration) is not working out and I can't make ends meet with it. Because of my mental health from abuse, I'm not used to employment and the job market, but I am looking.

My landlord has started the process of selling the place we live and we have been given a formal notice to leave by 9 April 2024. Because of my income, and because I have estranged my family (due to the aforementioned abuse), I do not have arrangements for somewhere else to live right now.

I am in contact with as many local organisations as I could find regarding my situation, and I'm working towards potentially getting emergency housing assistance. But emergency assistance is far from ideal - there is no guarantee I will be able to remain in Brighton because I am relatively new here, and I wouldn't be able to live with my partner and cat.

I would like to continue living with my partner and with my cat, and in the city where my opportunities for recovery are best - where I have friends, where I have queer community, where I am getting counselling and where I have a good training opportunity that would help me get a stable job in the medium term. But unless I can contribute enough money towards moving costs and advance rent, there is no guarantee that this will be possible, and it could put my current forms of support and opportunities in jeopardy.

The more money I can raise, the better options I have in this transition period and the better recovery I'm likely going to have. If I'm unable to meet the goal and I can't use it to secure a place with my partner and cat, the money can still go towards paying outstanding debts and making my future less difficult.