Help a homeless neurodivergent trans woman
Donation protected
Hello everyone!
I'm Sky, a neurodivergent (Autism, BPD, Depression, ADHD +) transgender woman living in Portsmouth, UK.
-- The Story --
I am living with a long-term nesting partner in Portsmouth, UK but I've been in the US since mid-Feb and will be coming back in mid-May. I thankfully had someone over here who was willing to take me in, but my relationship with my nesting partner has been slowly getting more and more toxic and abusive and I no longer feel safe there; we have since agreed since I came out here to the US that I will not go back to that house and that the relationship is over.
I'm currently over £16,000 in debt and have literally no spendable income. I work as an escort in the UK but have been finding it harder to get jobs and between bad mental health and suicide attempts, my body has been getting worse and I don't make enough money to support myself, nor do I have the money to move out.
I'm not on good terms with my family and don't have any other friends or partners who can help, or even anywhere that I can couch surf and I'm really scared that when I get back to the UK I won't have anywhere to live or any way to make the money that I need to survive. I don't have any job history and my MH issues makes it difficult for me to hold down a "regular" job. Since I don't have anywhere to turn, I will likely be street homeless as soon as I get back into the UK.
I have been discharged from the Community Mental Health Teams and was refused PIP - I can try to appeal but since my health issues are mostly MH related it will take a lot of time and spoons to fight it and no guarantee that I will be granted PIP in any case. I was refused for Universal Credit too since my nesting partner had to be part of the application, and they earn more money than the threshold for getting UC. So basically I need to apply as a independent person once I get to the UK - except I have nowhere to stay or live.
Getting onto Council housing is also difficult since where I currently live (Portsmouth) is not somewhere that I've lived for long and as far as I know most cities require you to have been living there for several years (or have connections in the area, which I don't) before you can even get onto a council housing list.
-- What I need --
I'm asking for some money to help tide me over, so that I can stay in a B&B or something, and buy food long enough to try and find out what (if any) resources I will be able to access and hopefully get some kind of emergency housing.
I'm hoping to get back to trying to earning via escorting and eventually try to pay off that debt and be able to have enough money to pay rent, bills and utilities as well as outstanding monthly payments that I'm locked into.
If I manage to hit my funding goal, I hope that it will be enough to both give me a few days to try and figure out my options (staying in a cheap B&B or something) and to pay for my initial deposit and moving fees to move into a privately rented apartment in the event that I cannot get assistance from the council(s).
My flight back to the UK is on the 19th of May 2020 - if anyone is able to help, I'd really appreciate donations by that date so that I have some kind of base financial help before I get back to the UK.
-- Financial Breakdown --
I'm estimating that I will need approx the following:
- £100 for travel to somewhere in the UK to set up base / if I can find someone who will take me in for a while
- £600 for a week or two staying at a B&B/hotel if I'm unable to find anyone to stay with
- £400 for enough food and toiletries etc to see my through until I can get a home again
- £1500 for initial month-and-a-half's rent plus a month rent as deposit for a private rented home if I cannot get support from the Council to get on council housing
- £400 for moving van and other moving-related costs
- £800 for a couple of months of paying the minimum payments for my credit card debt and ongoing bills
-£200 for travel and unexpected expenses
Obviously any amount would help, big or small. It's hard to know exactly how much I will need, how long it will take to find somewhere to live and find out what services and assistance might be available, but literally anything would help so much right now.
-- How you can help --
You can help me by:
A) Donating to the fundraiser
B) If you're queer or trans, I'd really appreciate if anyone in the UK would be willing to lend me your sofa or floor to crash on while I try to figure stuff out
C) If you're in the UK and knowledgable about homelessness, benefits or other support that I'd be able to get, I'd really like to meet up IRL for a coffee and a chat and ask some questions to try to fast-track knowing where to start
D) Even if you can't contribute, I'd really appreciate you sharing my GoFundMe link with your friends and on social media to spread the word.
I'd really appreciate any help or support that anyone could give to me; it would genuinely mean the world to me <3
-- How I will help myself --
Once I get back to the UK, my first priority will be to find somewhere to stay. The next priority is to visit the CAB and ask them what options I have for emergency or council housing.
Once I have somewhere that I can stay, even temporaily I will be updating my escorting profiles and trying to earn money as fast as I can so that I'm not being a financial burden to anyone and can hopefully start to at least partially support myself
I do have a couple of valuable posessions, not much - a gaming PC, a switch, and a couple of other things - once I am able to go to my old house I will be photographing anything of value and trying to sell on eBay, Craigslist or pawn shops etc. This money will be used to fund the things listed above
Ideally I'd like to be able to continue medical transition and do basic upkeep tasks for myself (such as nails and makeup etc) so that I might be more successful at getting jobs. I would also like to go back into education but that's permenantly on hold until I can afford it. If I were able to go to college and get qualified (I'm thinking about doing an NVQ level 2 then 3 in Beauty), I could hopefully open up a more stable future career for myself a couple of years down the line.
I also need Mental Healthcare but I cannot afford therapy right now, however if I ever have spare money I would like to try and get in therapy to help with my MH issues.
-- My plans for the future --
It's really important for me to be able to "pay it forward". If I can get to a stable place in my life financially and in terms of housing, I'd like to be able to offer a crash space, advice and transition advice for fellow trans people.
If I can survive to a point where I'm stable and have an income, I would also like to start contributing to others' GoFundMe campaigns until I've paid forward at least the amount that I get donated to me here
If I'm able to complete my education, as well as having a viable career for the future I'm hoping to offer my beauty services to fellow queer people since I know it can be really difficult for people to attend these things in very cis environments. I want to be an agent of change and support for others in my community - it's just a case of figuring out how to get there
-------
Thank you so much for reading! Whether you can donate or assist in any way or not, I really appreciate it <3.
I'm Sky, a neurodivergent (Autism, BPD, Depression, ADHD +) transgender woman living in Portsmouth, UK.
-- The Story --
I am living with a long-term nesting partner in Portsmouth, UK but I've been in the US since mid-Feb and will be coming back in mid-May. I thankfully had someone over here who was willing to take me in, but my relationship with my nesting partner has been slowly getting more and more toxic and abusive and I no longer feel safe there; we have since agreed since I came out here to the US that I will not go back to that house and that the relationship is over.
I'm currently over £16,000 in debt and have literally no spendable income. I work as an escort in the UK but have been finding it harder to get jobs and between bad mental health and suicide attempts, my body has been getting worse and I don't make enough money to support myself, nor do I have the money to move out.
I'm not on good terms with my family and don't have any other friends or partners who can help, or even anywhere that I can couch surf and I'm really scared that when I get back to the UK I won't have anywhere to live or any way to make the money that I need to survive. I don't have any job history and my MH issues makes it difficult for me to hold down a "regular" job. Since I don't have anywhere to turn, I will likely be street homeless as soon as I get back into the UK.
I have been discharged from the Community Mental Health Teams and was refused PIP - I can try to appeal but since my health issues are mostly MH related it will take a lot of time and spoons to fight it and no guarantee that I will be granted PIP in any case. I was refused for Universal Credit too since my nesting partner had to be part of the application, and they earn more money than the threshold for getting UC. So basically I need to apply as a independent person once I get to the UK - except I have nowhere to stay or live.
Getting onto Council housing is also difficult since where I currently live (Portsmouth) is not somewhere that I've lived for long and as far as I know most cities require you to have been living there for several years (or have connections in the area, which I don't) before you can even get onto a council housing list.
-- What I need --
I'm asking for some money to help tide me over, so that I can stay in a B&B or something, and buy food long enough to try and find out what (if any) resources I will be able to access and hopefully get some kind of emergency housing.
I'm hoping to get back to trying to earning via escorting and eventually try to pay off that debt and be able to have enough money to pay rent, bills and utilities as well as outstanding monthly payments that I'm locked into.
If I manage to hit my funding goal, I hope that it will be enough to both give me a few days to try and figure out my options (staying in a cheap B&B or something) and to pay for my initial deposit and moving fees to move into a privately rented apartment in the event that I cannot get assistance from the council(s).
My flight back to the UK is on the 19th of May 2020 - if anyone is able to help, I'd really appreciate donations by that date so that I have some kind of base financial help before I get back to the UK.
-- Financial Breakdown --
I'm estimating that I will need approx the following:
- £100 for travel to somewhere in the UK to set up base / if I can find someone who will take me in for a while
- £600 for a week or two staying at a B&B/hotel if I'm unable to find anyone to stay with
- £400 for enough food and toiletries etc to see my through until I can get a home again
- £1500 for initial month-and-a-half's rent plus a month rent as deposit for a private rented home if I cannot get support from the Council to get on council housing
- £400 for moving van and other moving-related costs
- £800 for a couple of months of paying the minimum payments for my credit card debt and ongoing bills
-£200 for travel and unexpected expenses
Obviously any amount would help, big or small. It's hard to know exactly how much I will need, how long it will take to find somewhere to live and find out what services and assistance might be available, but literally anything would help so much right now.
-- How you can help --
You can help me by:
A) Donating to the fundraiser
B) If you're queer or trans, I'd really appreciate if anyone in the UK would be willing to lend me your sofa or floor to crash on while I try to figure stuff out
C) If you're in the UK and knowledgable about homelessness, benefits or other support that I'd be able to get, I'd really like to meet up IRL for a coffee and a chat and ask some questions to try to fast-track knowing where to start
D) Even if you can't contribute, I'd really appreciate you sharing my GoFundMe link with your friends and on social media to spread the word.
I'd really appreciate any help or support that anyone could give to me; it would genuinely mean the world to me <3
-- How I will help myself --
Once I get back to the UK, my first priority will be to find somewhere to stay. The next priority is to visit the CAB and ask them what options I have for emergency or council housing.
Once I have somewhere that I can stay, even temporaily I will be updating my escorting profiles and trying to earn money as fast as I can so that I'm not being a financial burden to anyone and can hopefully start to at least partially support myself
I do have a couple of valuable posessions, not much - a gaming PC, a switch, and a couple of other things - once I am able to go to my old house I will be photographing anything of value and trying to sell on eBay, Craigslist or pawn shops etc. This money will be used to fund the things listed above
Ideally I'd like to be able to continue medical transition and do basic upkeep tasks for myself (such as nails and makeup etc) so that I might be more successful at getting jobs. I would also like to go back into education but that's permenantly on hold until I can afford it. If I were able to go to college and get qualified (I'm thinking about doing an NVQ level 2 then 3 in Beauty), I could hopefully open up a more stable future career for myself a couple of years down the line.
I also need Mental Healthcare but I cannot afford therapy right now, however if I ever have spare money I would like to try and get in therapy to help with my MH issues.
-- My plans for the future --
It's really important for me to be able to "pay it forward". If I can get to a stable place in my life financially and in terms of housing, I'd like to be able to offer a crash space, advice and transition advice for fellow trans people.
If I can survive to a point where I'm stable and have an income, I would also like to start contributing to others' GoFundMe campaigns until I've paid forward at least the amount that I get donated to me here
If I'm able to complete my education, as well as having a viable career for the future I'm hoping to offer my beauty services to fellow queer people since I know it can be really difficult for people to attend these things in very cis environments. I want to be an agent of change and support for others in my community - it's just a case of figuring out how to get there
-------
Thank you so much for reading! Whether you can donate or assist in any way or not, I really appreciate it <3.
Organizer
Sky Hannigan
Organizer
England
