The short of it is that, you guessed it, I am in a crisis situation where I’m unexpectedly losing my place to live, lack the means to handle this and need your help!

Some things about me before we get to the heavy stuff:

My name’s AJ, or my friends call me Andy (they/them). I’m a transgender artist who lives with a neuropathy in my hands. I enjoy gardening, making zines, rock hounding on Lake MI and painting miniatures. I recently adopted Pigeon, a kitty who has been the best WFH pal someone going through a rough time could ask for (...when he’s not making direct eye contact with me as he smacks things onto the floor).

Ok, back to the serious stuff. Some recent background on how I was already struggling before this happened:

2025 was very, very hard on me. I had to cut myself off from my abusive family and had a stressful cancer scare caused by multiple draining health issues which then lead to me needing major surgery at the end of the year. Luckily, I’ve been doing much better health-wise after surgery, but this has left me with a mountain of medical bills, a limited capacity to care for myself (let alone socialize) for a long period of time and an empty bank account. So I was already fighting to not live paycheck-to-paycheck when I lost my housing.

Now, my current situation:

I was recently told that the lease in my current rental is being terminated, leaving me with only 2 months to find, secure and move into a new place to live. This is a stressful and destabilizing situation for me in almost every possible way. I now have to spend a lot of money I don’t have very quickly, and lack the financial stability required for a loan to navigate this smoothly.

The good news is that I got lucky and have a new place to live!

I just signed onto a great apartment with a 1 year lease starting in April, and found a new housemate! It’s in a fantastic location for me, close to friends, doctors, major bus lines, etc. The central location will give me a great deal of independence while having access to my support network. But the one catch is that it comes with a security deposit that I have no way to pay in time before move-in.

This is where ya’ll come in. What this money is for:

Lastly, a vulnerable piece:

The world is growing more dangerous for people like me every single day. I already struggle to have hope that I have any kind of future while having to constantly contend with the fear of that. This on top of grieving the loss of my family, enduring medical & financial hardship and now being displaced from my housing has me at my wits end.

Fortunately, I’m stubborn. I refuse to give up hope that there’s better things ahead for myself and for other people who are getting screwed by the powers that be. The only way any of us are going to get through these dark times is through caring for each other when systems fail, so... here I am.

I hate to ask for financial help because things suck for everyone right now, but after exhausting every other option I really have nowhere else to turn. I hope, with your help, that this will be a first step towards getting back on my feet.

Thank you so much for reading this far and for your consideration.