Help Danielle Avoid Homelessness and Bankruptcy

I've staved off this GoFundMe for as long as possible, hoping that something would happen on the work front. There is currently a hold on my bank account for slightly over $10K. It's wiped out both my checking and savings accounts so I'm essentially bankrupt. With my accounts frozen, I am unable pay my bills right now and the daily overfraft fees will stack up quickly, putting me in even more debt. Even though I'm one of the prominent transgender voices in entertainment criticism, I'm not making a livable income. I'm left with no choice but to do an emergency GoFundMe to avoid becoming homeless at the end of August. All help is appreciated.

When I started the process of coming out as transgender at my contract job in September 2016, I didn't expect to arrive home on the Friday afternoon to learn that my services were no longer needed. I have a BA in Public Relations, a MA in Media Communications, and a certificate in Paralegal Studies. I did the only thing I could: apply for jobs and write about film on the side. Applying for jobs went nowhere until nearly a year later in September 2017. I finally found employment, but my finances had taken a significant hit because there was zero income. I had no choice but to use my credit card to pay my bills after coming out, which is partly why I'm in this pickle. The contract job ended in December 2017 but the damage had been done--the card was closed and went into collections.

With no luck on the job front, I decided that the only thing I could do was to write about film but I was never really able to make a living from it. Things did change in summer 2018 when I was able to start getting regular freelance work. All of that came to an end when the pandemic started. Both site traffic and ad revenue also dried up until late 2021. After PUA stopped coming, I stretched the money out as long as I could. Unfortunately, inflation meant food prices started rising, meaning I had no choice but to apply for SNAP in late March 2022.

I started a Substack in late 2021 as a source of income. It ended up being an epic failure because subscriptions aren't enough to pay my bills.

Being trans made my life harder. It led to losing an income at the same time that I needed to build up a new wardrobe. If you are in a position to donate, please know how grateful I am.