I'm Ashley. I'm a trans woman that's been trying to find solid work for a long time with no work. I have job experience and get called in for interviews but unfortunately all that experience is in fields where employment discrimination is higher than average. I'm looking to raise funds to first and foremost cover rent for the hostel and my phone bill during the job hunt. After that I'm looking to raise funds to stabilize enough to stick the landing on relaunching a merch operation and doing design work. If at all possible gaining a vehicle would also open up a lot of of possibilities for work, which is the end goal.

Background : During the early pandemic I had an offer to stay somewhere for free in exchange for being a caretaker for a disabled person. However, I couldn't apply for jobs that involved face to face interactions to avoid infecting the individual I was taking care of. Originally the plan was I would wait until a vaccine was available to find work, but when the time came the individual insisted we extend quarantine. Over time finances got worse and shop operations suffered as a result. I repeatedly expressed concerns that I would not be ready to get a new spot. I was repeatedly told not to worry because there's no way I would have to find a new spot before I was ready. Eventually that did happen and I was forced to scramble for shelter with little notice.

Then I made one of the worst mistakes of my life and took shelter in a house with a serious black mold problem. I was lucky enough to get a solid job relatively quickly, but unfortunately would lose the job due to illness. When the black mold issue was reported to the landlord, the landlord evicted everyone. I then lived in a rental car I was using for rideshare for roughly nine months, barely sleeping and dealing with extreme emotional abuse from someone I was unfortunately friends with at the time. I lost access to the car when I had to replace my ID (rental policy/log in requires a permanent ID) and I no longer have access to the rental company due to a hit and run incident. I started a job doing full-time pet sitting for a puppy that just recently ended because after the puppy didn't need full-time sitting anymore.

There's a lot of plot threads to follow but, I was offered a place to keep my merch/pack orders when I didn't have money to pay for storage. However issues with access/storage space made it not practical for me to hold operations out of there. Around haunt season I had extra money the hostel space I was able to rent was for once big enough for me to practically run operations. However when I moved operations to my space a violently transphobic dude who was staying in the same hostel went into my space and destroyed a lot of my stuff, including the vintage leather suitcases I had used to store/sort merch. I had been trying to avoid this guy for a while and had been complaining to management that he had been aggressive and drunk, with them repeatedly swearing they were gonna kick him out. Eventually they did kick him out but also made me leave saying that my presence was causing problems, which forced me to bring the now loose merch back to the old spot, which I then lost due to the person who offered it having to downsize.

Right now the space I'm in has all my merch stacked up in piles, mostly loose and disorganized. I'm making attempts now to reorganize but realizing that a larger space is probably going to be necessary, ideally the space I'm also staying in but if necessary I'm willing to move into a smaller space / bunk if I'm able to get a large enough storage unit to effectively pack orders, along with new suitcases to store/organize

The end goal of this is to put me in a position where I can be more effectively self-employed and stable in every sense of the word. I'll still be applying for extra work but asking for enough hand outs to survive the month until I get lucky again with a chill employer seems less effective than putting myself in a situation where I can build something for myself.

First priority for funds is finding the cheapest usable storage unit possible and a bunk nearby and taking care of orders that have needed to be taken care of.

Second priority is a laptop and using that for design/editing/writing work, ideally a printer if I'm able to rent a living space large enough that I can also work in it. Possibly streaming depending on what kind of space I'm able to find.

Third priority is enough to get a down payment on a vehicle so I can take immediate gig work, easily vend at live shows, and be a more serious candidate for jobs that want a driver.

I don't have a safety net beyond this and I feel like I'm at a breaking point mentally with waiting for someone to hire me, even if getting myself in a position where I can be independent enough until then requires asking for help. Thank you.