Introduce yourself and what you’re raising funds for:

Hey there, denizens of the internet and residents of the world,

My name is Kyan. I’m a disabled trans labor organizer in Portland. Since moving here in 2018, I’ve been involved with local labor organizing, starting as a shop steward with ILWU Local 5 until the mass layoffs at Powell’s in 2020. After being laid off from Powell’s, I helped co-organize a successful campaign at Living Room Theaters in 2023 before spending two years organizing with New Seasons Labor Union. Some of you may also recognize me from Alberta Cooperative Grocery, where I spent the last two years bagging your groceries and stocking the milks.

I moved to Portland from Seattle in 2018 after struggling to find employment in Seattle that could accommodate my chronic health conditions. I’ve never been able to find my footing here, financially - just when it looked like I’d locked into my career path at Powell’s, all of our worlds were rocked by the global COVID-19 pandemic and the company’s decision to gut its staffing. Returning to kitchens and grocery as a result of my forced departure from Powell’s accelerated my existing health issues, compounded by the stress and, at times, trauma of being surveilled and targeted by multiple employers for my organizing efforts.

Here we are now in 2026. My health is the worst it’s been in many years, with my impaired balance making walking without a cane a safety concern. I have barely been able to leave my house for the last seven months due to a combination of debilitating mental health symptoms resulting from years of targeted mistreatment at work, unceasing body-wide pain, and worsening migraine attacks that make going into direct light impossible. While I am currently enrolled in the Oregon Self Employment Assistance program, these weekly payments are barely enough to live off of. Given the current cost of living, I have barely been able to pay my rent since November. Instead of my energy going towards recovery, healing, and pivoting my income stream to something more sustainable, everything goes towards just trying to survive.

I am raising funds to pay for three months of rent so that I can finally exhale for a minute. If I could rest assured knowing my housing was covered, it would go a long way towards the stability I originally came to Portland to find. Thank you <3