****Update  (2/15): Hi everyone! I was locked out of my gofundme account for a while because I never verified my email address, but I wanted to update by first giving a huge thank you to everyone who has been so supportive in donating and sharing. This living situation hasn't really improved but I've been so hopeful and so close to the finish line. I updated the goals to reflect the huge amount of outside contributions as well as thankfully having found a cheaper place to live than I initially thought possible as well as the executive order from the Biden administration extending the moratorium on student loans meaning I won't have to make payments leading up to the semester. If you can share this and are able to donate, I would really appreciate it, thanks so much; I truly can't thank you all enough. This has honestly been the hardest chapter of my life and I feel so fortunate to have a community of folks who genuinely care deeply about me and I hope I can make it through all of this and pay it forward.

Much Love,

-Fae
*******

Hi Everyone, 

My name's Fae, I'm a Black trans woman, permanently disabled, and trying to finish my last semester of  my studio arts MFA at the University of Pennsylvania to become a full-time teacher. I recently started chemotherapy in addition to being very immunocompromised and at very high risk from Covid, having almost died from the Flu in February. I'm currently in an abusive housing situation and need a place to stay where I can isolate and finish the last semester of my program remotely.

What Happened:

Last December I had to go on medical leave from my graduate program as well as my three jobs with the university after almost dying  from a perforated ulcer as a complication from severe Crohn's Disease. A friend had raised funds to help pay off the medical bills and help with rent however this didn't account for the ensuing pandemic or my illness getting worse. After 8 months of treatment, my condition regressed into worse than my initial hospitalization and I later developed inflammation in my lungs, chest, eyes, joints, and GI tract. I've had two strokes and have been having regular seizures that have only recently been subdued with anti-convulsants. It's severely affected my mobility and quality of life, and I've had to extend my return to the Fall 2021 while I do chemo and hopefully enter remission. What makes this pressing is that I'm staying in an abusive housing situation with someone who owns the house at which I'm staying. They have been providing a place to stay and resources but it's put me in a very vulnerable position as I'm unemployed and disabled. The situation has been abusive for a while but only recently escalated into dire straits recently, and I'm losing mobility with increasing inflammation.

 

What I Need Help With:

I started grad school with the purpose of becoming an arts educator in Pennsylvania, largely to shape education in ways that I didn’t experience in my own youth. I have never had a trans teacher and only last year had a Black professor. In my own experience, having someone just tell me it was okay to be queer or was understanding of my illnesses would have made a profound difference in encouraging me to pursue art. I’ve taught individual classes and workshops, always advocating for queer folks, and those with disabilities, but my goal is to teach full-time, securing the health insurance I need to live. With my master’s degree, I’ll be given a pay bonus for teaching in PA and I’ll be able to teach college courses. Because of COVID, my program is going with an online-only option (not really an option so much as a necessity in my case) with the caveat that I don’t have access to ANY of the on-site resources or facilities, or even my studio. What’s more, despite this and most classes being via zoom/online the tuition is still the full amount. I’m unable to return to any of my university jobs because they are no longer being offered, and because all of my w-2 income in the last year and a half was from graduate student jobs, I didn’t qualify for unemployment and I never heard from PUA. Furthermore, because the extension for student loans ends after December 31st, I’ll have to pay my student loans and interest until I resume classes in Fall 2021. The only income I had before losing my university jobs was sex work, and due to the pandemic and high risk what I make online isn’t nearly enough while I still look for safe employment.

I NEED HELP finding an accessible place to live where I can keep isolating and continue to make work leading up to and during my last semester. Right now I can walk comfortably with a cane but suffer from episodic lapses in my mobility. The funds I need are for relocating, rent, utilities, groceries, eight months of student loan payments and interest, medical expenses, transportation to and from chemo and other doctor’s appointments as well as the supplies, equipment and materials to work and finish my thesis. This will not only help me to weather the pandemic and finish my master’s degree, but it will also give me the stability I need to establish my teaching career and start living my life. I’ve been in school and enduring hardships due to disability and my identity for years now and I’m so close to the finish line. Sharing or any amount would mean the world to me finally being able to realize what I’ve been working nearly half my life on now.

Estimate:

1,250/month for rent, utilities, groceries for 6 months 7,500 (Update: 5,700 to reflect reduced cost of rent after signing a lease somewhere more inexpensive).
380/month student loans and interest for 6 months mo - 2240 (Update: 0 to reflect student loans moratorium executive order)
Transportation to and from medical appointments - 500
Materials, lights, printing, equipment rentals and studio supplies - 4,000
Outstanding medical bills - 4,500

Total - 18,760 (Update: 14,700 as of 2/15 thanks to executive order for student loans and having secured a place to live)

The only upcoming big costs are the cost of tuition after my scholarship, something I’d normally be paying with employment, and a vehicle to have safe transportation and autonomy to be able to travel and take distanced clients. However, the latter I can’t even get without a PA driver’s license (I don’t feel safe going to the DMV), and the former can be remedied by taking out another $10,000 loan which, although not ideal, is funds I would potentially have access to just not until the Fall.

Any amount would be incredibly appreciated. If you would rather not pay through GFM you can also use my venmo or cashapp which are @faebrite and $faebrite.

Thank you so much.