Hello! My name is Rachel, or you might know me as Giga if you found your way here through Twitch: My friend Jake is in a real tight spot right now and I wanted to write this GoFundMe on his behalf.

After a surprise layoff without severance from a long-held position, a relocation from NY to TX, a few filler jobs, and another in-town move to a new apartment, Jake finally landed a job at a company with a suitable position for him a few months ago. He was on his way to recovering from the hurdles he had just endured when his new employers started their own wave of layoffs without severance. This change in trajectory has had dire consequences for Jake.

Jake is now faced with depleted funds and rent due at the end of April, which is now a less than a week away at the time of this GoFundMe launching. A successful crowdfunding effort would cover Jake’s April rent and the month’s living expenses, including utilities, groceries, and food for his little dog while he continues his job search.

We’re all well aware of how long any given hiring process is in current times: Even with a positive response to a job application, the time between the first interview and a job offer can extend for weeks and beyond. Jake has been diligently applying for jobs, and the unemployment process has been slow and unyielding with its own bureaucratic stall-outs.

Sometimes it doesn’t take much for life to knock us off our feet. Sometimes it’s easy to steady ourselves and get back up on our own, other times we need some assistance finding our footing again. I believe most of us have been in the latter situation at least once in our lives. I’ve certainly been in a tight spot before and I am ever-grateful to those who extended their hands in help.

Please help my friend Jake make ends meet while he’s in the process of making the next step forward.