Help Ari (& Shadow) Stay Housed

Hi I’m Ari (He/They) and I need help to keep a roof over my and my cat Shadow’s head!! I’m a 23 year old trans guy living in New York, one of the highest cost of living cities, but also one of the few cities I can safely live in. I recently discovered that I am disabled and chronically ill and have been unable to work sufficient hours to keep up with my rent.

I was recently contacted, by my building’s lawyers via mail, about my growing rent debt, some of which I have slowly paid off. From what I can understand, i am facing eviction if i cannot pay the sum of $7,804 by September 19th, 2025. Despite reaching out at the beginning of the lease to ask for an extension on rent for the myriad of reasons holding me back as we renewed another year, I was never responded to by my buildings management. They also never reached out to me via email, mail, or phone to ask about the growing debt. These lawyers waited 6 months into a lease to just hand me a 30 days notice to respond to the collected debt, didn’t reach back to me when they said they would (nor responded to my follow up message), and have just handed me a more concrete legal packet explaining i will lose access to the property if i do not pay the debt in full in less than (as the packet is date marked over a week ago) 30 days. I have updated my goal to reflect this debt and the additional months rent owed for september, assuming i am able to crawl my way out of this.

As I navigate other options for income (and i am navigating every possible one), I find myself at a very scary place. I know I have my community if the worse case happens, but I could not live with myself if my roommate faced any consequences of my inability to come up with rent (she has been paying her half every month and on time). Also, much as I would not prefer to be unhoused again, I’m more worried for my cat Shadow than myself. He is just a year old and hates to be away from me and I have no idea what I would do without him. Please, if you have any bit to spare, consider helping out a fellow community member trying his best to stay afloat despite the systems keeping him down. Anything and EVERYTHING is so appreciated and I am sending love to everyone who is able to help <3