Hi, my name is Finn, I'm a 32 year old trans man. In August 2025, I got fired from a job where I frequently experienced harassment, transphobia, and unsafe working conditions, and on a few occasions threats of physical violence.

I'm currently struggling to afford basic living expenses after losing this job, and also I'm trying to save up money to move in October, when my lease runs out. Being -$197 in overdraft and recently fired from an abusive job that still has yet to provide me severance pay is an exhausting, uphill climb, that I absolutely can't manage without support.

My goals: I am looking to cover September's rent ($1,625), plus enough to potentially cover move-in expenses (first, last, and security deposit estimated at $4,500). $6,000 is probably more than I need, but I want to make sure I'm covering my bases, such as utilities, phone bills, and other living expenses.

I am looking to move from a studio apartment to a studio or shared living space with roommates in Boston. I know from experience that this option would be much better for me than my current living situation, financially, socially, and emotionally. I'm not sure how I can do that, apart from asking for direct financial support. I have exhausted all my other options.

I held down this job for almost two years, because I had few other options. The reason I finally was fired was because my attendance grew increasingly poor, because I was often too burned out to be in that abusive environment. (I go into more detail about the harassment below.)

I've been living pretty precariously these past two years, paycheck to paycheck, in no small part because of this job barely covering my expenses (which included travel expenses, which could rack up to $40 a day for Uber rides, due to lack of public transportation in my area on weekends and nights). I've been unable to save up really anything.

My bank account is currently at -$197.66, and has been overdrafted since August 11th--over two weeks. I have not been able to afford transportation, afford to do laundry, get medication, pay phone, internet, and electric bills, nevermind think about paying September's rent, nor think about saving up for a move in October. All of my purchases this month have been via gift cards I carefully saved up, and food stamps.

I've been waiting on severance pay from my former job, estimated to be $900--which will help a bit. However, although my severance pay check was sent out on August 13th, it has not arrived (today's date being 8/26/2025). I was told by an HR representative today that they will 1) need to stop the current check, 2) send a new check, a process that will at least take until August 29th, if not longer.

I'm also waiting on unemployment benefits, which have yet to kick in. It's also estimated that I will only receive $271 per week, which is half of what I made when I was employed.

Considering that I need to pay rent on September 1st, and the amount is $1,625, I doubt I will have anywhere near enough money to afford it by then, without support.

To go more into the workplace abuses I experienced: The environment was full of extremely right-wing people, especially aggressively pro-Trump white men, who were often abusive and volatile. There were almost daily instances of sexual harassment at my workplace, both from customers and employees. Sometimes I witnessed it, and sometimes I experienced it directly.

Once, while I was on my way to clock out, two men catcalled me, saying "Hey honey! Come help us with this, huh?" When I pulled down my mask and politely said, "Please don't call me honey," one of the men yelled "What the fuck, man! You shouldn't be wearing that mask! Fucking bitch!" I kept walking and didn't answer, to keep the situation from escalating. The initial misogynistic catcalling suddenly turned into a strange homophobic reaction after the customer realized I was a man, a situation which many trans people experience, and one that often leads to physical violence.

On another occasion, I walked past an area of the store selling lettered stickers, and someone had arranged the letters to say the words "F*GGOT" and "TRUMP". As a queer person especially, this was very frightening to see--something akin to hate speech and slurs scrawled on a wall. I never ran into the person who left the hateful message, but I'm honestly not surprised someone there left a message like that, making it very clear who they believed should be made to feel unsafe in that environment.

On another occasion, a drunk customer was sexually harassing one of my coworkers, telling her to smile and asking why she didn't have a ring on her finger. I stepped in and asked him to stop. The customer quickly got belligerent, telling me to "Shut up and get back to work," and saying "I can say whatever the hell I want, I spend so much money here." I told him to leave the store. He left, but then came back in, shouting, "Where is he? What's his name? I'll get his ass!" I fled the area, and was told later that the customer was saying he was going to punch me.

Another instance involved a security guard, literally asking me out of the blue as I was walking by him, "Are you a virgin?" When I expressed disbelief, the interaction got played off as a funny joke, and the security guard pressed on, asking me questions about my sex life, like "Have you ever had sex? I'm asking all the guys here" and telling me graphic details about his own sex life. The whole situation was laughed about by my male coworkers, who saw it as harmless "locker room talk." I reported it as soon as I could to a manager, and thankfully something was probably done about it, since I never saw that security guard again.

However, it seemed like the sexual harassment (and overall abuse) was tolerated / enabled so long as things didn't escalate beyond a certain point.

On my last day working there, I witnessed two instances of sexual harassment against my female coworkers, all within four hours. One was an employee steering a cart towards another employee's butt, saying to her, "I was aiming for your butt! I wanted to rub your rump." I checked in with my coworker afterward, asking her how she felt. She said it had made her uncomfortable. She said to me, "They do things like that all the time, it's not worth going to management about it." The implication, from her tired tone and expression, wasn't so much "It doesn't bother me," so much as "I'm too burnt out to do anything about it, it happens constantly here, it's not worth even trying to address it."

There were also several occasions where management played fast and loose with safety concerns--an especially serious problem in a hardware store / warehouse with a lot of heavy equipment. On two occasions, I injured myself, despite every attempt to follow safety protocol (one time I had a deep splinter in my finger, another time a heavy step stone fell on my hand, causing a contusion). These types of injuries were common in this workplace, but rarely reported. I was one of the few people to report them--a lot of the time, employees would just grab a bandaid and go back to work.

When I reported my injuries and was advised over the phone by a nurse to go to urgent care, I was told by two different managers that I should avoid going to urgent care, because it would "cost the store a lot of money." They of course could not legally bar me from going, but in very roundabout ways, they applied as much pressure as possible, berating me about it for an hour, and making it clear they thought my injury was my fault, and that seeking medical attention was a grave imposition on the company.

I could go into more horror stories, but I hope I've made it clear why this workplace burned me out, and that it is something I am hoping to gradually recover from going forward. Part of that recovery is moving to a better place and getting a better job, that treats me with respect and doesn't abuse me.

I'll update this space with details on my situation, my income, and the nature of the support I'm asking for. Thank you for reading <3

Note: To avoid confusion: the below screenshots of my bank account feature my deadname / legal name, Jenny Cox.