The afternoon of February 15th I was informed that as of February 14th my position with the US Forest Service had been terminated. I was just over a year into my 2-year probationary period and had never had anything less than stellar performance reviews. I loved my job, and I am fighting to get it back. Meanwhile I have applied for unemployment, but because the termination stated it was due to performance I am now having to fight for unemployment as well.

I don't know how long it will be until I have a form of income coming in, so I'm asking for help. The goal I have set should get me through 2 months of rent and 2.5 months of expenses for myself and my cat. These expenses include utilities, groceries, medications, cat food and supplies, as well as those necessary household purchases like toilet paper. I am hoping that in 2 months time I will have resolved the issue with unemployment. In the current job market I am not sure how soon I will have a new job, but I am searching every day.

I'm not good at asking for help as I can be fiercely independent (as my former coworkers can attest), but here I am, humbly asking for any help people can offer. I know there are thousands of federal employees who have been terminated, and please know that we all need your support right now.

December 2025 Update:

After I was reinstated it became quite clear that my job was not safe. A second round of deferred resignation was offered and I took that as it was my best option. I have been applying for jobs since February, minus a brief break in June due to recovering from a surgery, I’m at 177 job applications so far. In October I cashed out what little I had in TSP. Unfortunately those funds were depleted a month early due to emergency vet bills (there’s a separate GoFundMe on that). My rent is paid for January, I have SNAP to cover food expenses, but utilities and future rent funds are needed so I am opening this back up to donations now.

I have broadened my work search, and am looking into all options available to me. I appreciate any assistance that can be offered, I know times are very very tough right now. Thank you.