Our household is small, queer, disabled, and full of care. Usually, it is full of joy. Right now, it is on a cliff.

I am a trans non-binary disabled independent researcher, writer, Stanford alum, and founder of RAISE Nexus, where I study human-AI relational dynamics. My work focuses on relational AI safety: what changes when AI stops being only a tool for producing outputs and becomes part of how people make decisions, regulate emotions, navigate care, and make meaning under pressure.

I am also the primary caregiving anchor for my young adult trans nephew with epilepsy.

Over the last several months, we have been hit by a cascade of medical and financial strain. I have been recovering from serious surgical complications, including emergency and inpatient hospital care, with ongoing medical uncertainty. That recovery has affected my ability to work, cook, plan, and keep up with the daily tasks that make a household function.

At the same time, I have been helping my nephew access the level of health care he had not received before, including an epilepsy diagnosis and ongoing care. Stanford Health Care has become part of that continuity for both of us: for my recovery, and for his care.

Then the final piece landed: my limited-term role in California county government ends on 6/30 and will not be extended. I had known this was possible for months, but there was still hope that funding might come through, preserving income and health insurance for another year while allowing us to stabilize from the medical and financial strain. Now I find the cliff right in front of me, with hope still visible across a gap I cannot cross on my own.

This fundraiser is about getting us across that gap.

Your support will help us cover rent, food, utilities, transportation, medical costs, health insurance, and the basic stability we need while I recover, care for my nephew, and move from a limited-term job into sustainable paid work. It will also help keep the tools of my work online: internet, phone service, AI access, website and domain costs, email, and the digital infrastructure I need to keep publishing, applying, consulting, networking, and building RAISE Nexus.

This work matters because people are already living with AI in intimate, high-stakes ways. They are using it to think through fear, grief, disability, identity, work, care, and confusion. My research asks how we build AI systems that help people without flattening, extracting from, or misrepresenting the human situations they touch.

Stanford is part of this story as community and care. I served on the Stanford Pride board for two years and currently serve as VP, worked in Stanford University administration for two years, and rely on Stanford Health Care for continuity of care. Keeping that continuity matters.

This is not only about surviving the end of a job. It is about keeping a disabled trans caregiving household stable while I turn urgent research and public education work into sustainable income through consulting, fellowships, sponsorships, workshops, and collaborations.

Every contribution gives us more time, more safety, and more room to keep going. If you can give, thank you. If you can share, thank you. If you know someone who may be able to support this work, connect me with paid opportunities, or help open a door, an introduction would mean a great deal.

This is vulnerable to ask. But I am asking because our family needs support, because this work needs continuity, and because I believe both deserve a chance to thrive.