Hi! Natasha (she/they) here. As many of you may know, since the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve been supporting myself solo as a full-time teaching artist. Since 2020, I’ve worked as a freelance creative writing instructor, all while trying to finish my first book and yearly applying to more stable, long-term teaching jobs. It’s been an adventure for sure, though not a path I’d anticipated or would have chosen for anyone, especially for this length of time or with the ever-decreasing resources such a length of time ensures. Still, I’ve been pushing through as best I can, but it remains all too apparent to me that I can only go so far on my own.

Despite working more teaching gigs now than I ever did 4 years ago, I still find myself with an even greater need for mutual aid now than I did then. So I’m turning to the community for help, to fundraise for the approaching spring and summer months in which I’ll continue remote teaching but will still need substantial additional support for my ever-accumulating living and health expenses.

My hope is that this will relieve some of the heavy material and mental burden I’ve been carrying, so that I really can write and survive amid my own disabling health challenges in a COVID world. If you believe in teachers, or the arts, or poets, or poetry in general, I hope you’ll consider investing in me and helping me get closer to my goal of some longer-term stability as a working artist. God knows I’m good to my word, and I’ll pay it forward. But first, I’ve got to learn how to hold out my hands.

Thank you, for any and all support! ❤️