**Identities of other household members hidden for safety reasons**

My name is Adam, and I'm a transgender community member who, a few years ago, moved to Massachusetts with a friend, traveling from Idaho.

Leaving Idaho was a need-to-happen situation for both parties, as we were about to lose coverage for gender affirming care and be forced to endure various anti-trans laws that would soon go into effect, as well as more that were recently signed.

Information about the situation in Idaho can be found here: https://www.acluidaho.org/issues/lgbtq-justice/

Both of us are in a much better position than before, but still struggling to save money to afford some level of stability in the current economic and political situation.

Due to federal funding cuts, a lot of the resources that would have been previously available to us (scholarships, rent assistance, legal assistance, food assistance, medical expenses, tuition waivers for job training, the sheer existence of job training, crisis intervention) have been rendered less available or completely unavailable.

We have struggled to make effective use of these limited resources, due in part to the already difficult nature of our "too disabled to work all the way, not disabled enough to get tangible assistance" circumstances.

Our circle involves folks who should by all accounts qualify for federal disability assistance, but are repeatedly denied due to age and the fact that we are able to hold down jobs.

We are dedicated to staying a part of the Massachusetts community, as it is the safest and most accessibly to us, but would be immensely helped by a boost for stability for our roommates and friends.

My main goal has always been to support the people in my life, but I am slowly but surely running out of ability to continue doing this effectively due to my own emerging physical / health / cognitive limitations. This fundraiser will help allow me to keep doing so, and give back to those who have helped me. It is disheartening to have spent as many hours of overtime as I have to pull out of this situation, only to continually tread water for reasons outside of my control.

We are reaching out to the community to ask for support for a queer household of four for the following purposes:

-Outstanding owed moving expenses owed to friends, roommates, family and credit card

-First and last month's rent for a new place to live

-Car repairs

-Driving lessons

-Medical expenses / compensation for time off of work due to health issues

-Food

-Current rent

-Textbooks and other college expenses

-Transportation to and from work (gas)

Any funds gained here will be first distributed to the folks in our lives we owe to, and then in descending order, everything else.

Sadly, the thing that helps us the most is simply money. Everyone in our household works full time, and I attend college for IT when I'm not at work. As my friend and I are both disabled, doing all of this at once can be very limiting and as such so are our inconsistent funds.

I'm sure that soon we will find a way out of this, and I am unfathomably grateful to the people in my life who support me in every way.

We hate to ask community members to extend for our sake, but we've reached a point where we fear we might not be able to sustain over the next year without some kind of help. We do take advantage of what resources we can; MassHealth, SNAP/EBT, the local food pantries, etc.

My three jobs are a long drive away, and the prices of gas have really hit my funds, and cause a lot of strain on my car.

It's a lot of money but anything helps, and I would like to give back to those around me who assisted, as well as keep my ability to get to work without falling into more debt.

Thank you so very much.