Hi everyone,

This page was created on behalf of our dear friend Nemo (also known as Aurum), who has recently taken a courageous step to leave a 14-year abusive relationship. While this decision took incredible bravery, it’s also left Nemo in an immensely vulnerable position, without consistent shelter, a stable source of food, or even the most basic of necessities.

For over three decades, Nemo has endured unimaginable financial, emotional, mental, and physical hardship that have left him with multiple severe health conditions. He has experienced a lifetime of disturbing abuse from his family members and the foster care system. His family actively prevented him from going to college or getting any jobs in order to maintain control over him. Even after reaching adulthood, his manipulative (now ex-)husband perpetuated the abuse, and only a couple of months ago did Nemo find the strength to leave the relationship. Being a queer, disabled, trans man living in a rather religious part of the country obviously did not help things. He now is starting over from scratch, which is clearly going to be an uphill battle, and Nemo urgently needs support to secure safe housing, food, and various other essential items to begin the healing process and start his new life.

For a bit of context, Nemo's physical disabilities essentially makes him unable to rely on his body at all. Not to get too far into it, but he can’t really use his hands (De Quervain's tenosynovitis plus hypermobility), and it’s difficult for him to lift things, walk, or even move, especially without debilitating pain (even when at rest, he experiences pain). He still is actively searching for work that he would be able to do, but pickings are slim. This is especially true because of the time of year; Nemo has cold-induced asthma that can get to be life-threateningly bad in the current weather (and in fact was forced to go the ER recently because of exactly that), keeping him from any jobs that are outdoors. In addition to trying to find a job, he’s also been diligently applying to various shelters, such as homeless shelters and domestic violence (DV) shelters, but once again, because of the time of year, all of them are filled to capacity. It’s bad enough that even if one of them has an opening, it’s likely to be filled before Nemo can get there.

Some of you may be aware that Nemo HAD been in a DV shelter immediately after escaping his ex, but unfortunately, the shelter’s management chose to ignore dangerous transphobia/abuse directed at Nemo. This led to Nemo turning to the police instead, and at this point management themselves became abusive. Ultimately, Nemo was forced to leave for his own safety. He is currently staying at a motel that was funded by the wonderful Wobbles, where his room is paid for until December 3rd.

Some might question why this GoFundMe is being created and run by Nemo's friends, rather than Nemo himself. Unfortunately, Nemo is a bit of a knucklehead when it comes to asking for help. He stresses about coming across correctly with his statements. He doesn’t want people to feel obliged to help him if he tells them about his impossibly tough life so far. Likewise, he worries that he’s taking advantage of his friends. This effort has come about because those very friends are worried about him, and want to help him, even if he doesn’t know how to ask for it.

Anyway, this is how Nemo will be using the funds:

- Safe Shelter: the majority of the funds will go toward securing temporary housing while he works toward a stable living arrangement. The housing program he’s applied for, HRSN, is offered through his health insurance, and has a much shorter wait list (a couple weeks) than common affordable housing programs such as Section 8, which have wait lists in excess of years. The initial funds will be put towards staying in cheap motels until the application is accepted.

- Food and Essentials: any excess funds will go towards basic groceries, hygiene products, warm clothing, and other necessities. When Nemo left the apartment he shared with his ex, he was able to take very little in the way of essentials.

How You Can Help:

If you’re able to donate, no matter the size, it will make an incredible and noticeable difference in helping Nemo stay safe and healthy while he rebuilds his life. Every dollar will provide him with the security and resources he needs to start fresh and create a safe, independent future. In fact, Nemo is currently studying for the SATs and intends to go to college in order to get better paying/more stable jobs once he has stable housing and his basic needs met.

Even if you are unable to contribute financially, please consider sharing this campaign with your friends/family! Every share can help spread the word and bring us closer to the goal of helping Nemo get back on his feet.

Thank you for reading and for any help you can provide. Let’s come together to help Nemo begin this new chapter with hope and strength!

- Scarlet (aka Emi), Connor (aka Cryden), and Matthew (aka Doc)