Calvin's Emergency Lifeline Fund

Hi, my name's Calvin. I'm a 23-year-old trans guy who was laid off due to COVID-19 back in April. While I fortunately qualified for my state's Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), the additional $600 PUA benefit the CARES Act put into place is currently set to expire at the end of July, which means I'll have a harder time keeping up with my rent, groceries, and other costs of living while I continue to job hunt.

Up until December 2019, I was a full-time student who also worked part-time in order to make ends meet as an off campus student. I ended up suffering a major depressive episode/extreme burnout from pushing myself too hard & ended up failing the final classes I needed to get my B.A. in Business Communication. I decided in December that I needed to take a gap semester to recuperate and try save up money for the 15 credits I need to take to finish & earn my degree.

Fast-forward to 2020, where out-of-the-blue, my great grandfather passed away in early January, and his son, my great uncle, followed him later in May. Just as I finally felt that I had dealt with my grief over losing my Grandpa, I lost my Grunkle, almost immediately after I lost my job. I spiraled, because not only had I lost two of the most wonderful men in my life and my family, I lost the chance to have them see me graduate, which is one of the most heartbreaking things 2020 has dealt me this year.

While I've done my best to look for employment, my lack of a degree has put a wrench into my attempts, & this GFM is meant to help keep me on my feet, a roof over my head, and food in my pantry while I keep up my efforts. The biggest expense that I want to cover outside of rent & other bills, is to purchase a refurbished iPad so I can begin working on art professionally via commissions to offset other expenses that may come up later this year, example of my art below with my Twitter handle.
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I currently share an apartment with my boyfriend, who up until this month (July), had been unemployed since October 2019. Luckily, he was hired for a paid internship at a company within his field of study. We also own a cat, Mitzie, & while she is a darling angel I love, she continually needs money in the form of food, litter, and toys. She says she'll get a job, but I don't think she'll be paying rent anytime soon. (Continued below)

Regarding expenses, our combined rent is $1,250 a month, excluding electric & internet, which ranges between $150 - $200 a month. My goal for this GFM is set at $5,000 to cover 3 months of the full cost of rent, internet, and electric (a total of $4,350). This is for in case my boyfriend's internship ends earlier than expected, or he isn't offered a full time position later down the road. The other $650 would cover the cost of purchasing a refurbished iPad, an Apple pencil, and provide a little cash buffer in case of surprise bills.

Thank you all for reading this far down. I understand that COVID-19 has created similar scenarios for lots of people my age, & any funds that are raised here that exceed the set $5,000 goal will be split between savings for my last 15 college credits/paying off my student loans & donations to other GFMs. If you are able, please donate to keep this trans queer kid alive & well. Otherwise, please share this as far & wide as you can. Thank you so much.

~ Calvin