Help Me Finish School So I Can Support My Family

The Nutshell:

Please help me cover the gap left by my student aid to pay the rent on our apartment.

The Details:

I'm trying to get my degree for a career that pays a livable wage, to support my family and climb us out of the vortex of poverty-wage jobs. The school part is all paid for, but my financial aid falls short of covering all our living expenses for the time that I'll be in school.

The (Too Many) Details:

If you need to know more, I'm married (15 yrs), we have a baby, ten months old. My long job history of dead-end minimum wage service work ain't cutting it, you know what I mean? So I am working as fast as possible to obtain a degree in a field that will allow me to pursue a career that both supports my family financially and fulfills me creatively. (This last point is not solely for my own benefit. I want to model my values of creativity, hard work, and self-worth, for my kid. I have to be the kind of person that I want them to look up to.)

The degree is in Computer Science, specifically Game Design, something I've done in my spare time for decades.

Between the demands of parenthood and giving the remainder of my time to school, I am entirely dependent on financial aid to cover the costs of living (part of the incentive to get it done as fast as I can). Fortunately, my community college is not expensive, so it was easy to cover my tuition and other school costs with financial aid.

Unfortunately on the other hand, non-school costs such as rent, utilities, diapers, etc. are a different story. Ironically, because my community college is so inexpensive, the amount that the school is permitted to authorize me to request in loans is limited. As a result, despite borrowing the maximum amount permitted, it was still below the full amount I need to pay these other expenses through the year.

Why GoFundMe, instead of... ?

The simplest course would be to attempt to work, in addition to a full class schedule, and parenting. There are several problems with this: First and most obviously, working "full-time" (a myth in NYC), at a few dollars above the city's minimum wage, I was already unable to pay the bills. That's literally what pushed me to get my degree. As mentioned, the only jobs my resume qualifies me for are those which do not pay a livable wage. Second, if I were to reduce my class load to free up time to work (which would be futile anyway, see above), I would only be delaying my degree, ensuring I live in this financial freefall for longer, ultimately needing more help. The best thing I can do is try to speedrun my degree.

I did try to fill this gap by applying for a personal loan, but thanks to the (reduced) loans I was given, and having no other income, no credible lender is able to offer me this.

I am still searching for other options, including exploring any overlooked grants or other aid I might qualify for, but the rent is coming due soon and I am running out of ideas. This fundraiser is a last, desperate resort.