
Help Phoenix Escape Abuse and Return to School
Donation protected
Hi, I'm Phoenix. I'm 23 and stuck with abusive family in the Chicago suburbs. I'm trying to go back to school and escape my family, but I've been unemployed for months with no savings and no success finding another job. My previous job was 24/7 home care for my grandfather for $50/day in another state and since escaping that and moving back to Chicagoland, I have experienced constant threats to my belongings and safety, and constant verbal abuse.
"But Phoenix, why did you leave school?" To be blunt, spending half of my college years being repeatedly sexually assaulted over the course of a year and then losing the year-long case after filing a report does not do wonders for one's GPA. I spent 2023-24 trying to fix my GPA, but then was kicked out of my mother's house in April of 2024 after confronting her about her abusive behavior. I had to drop out of college and move in with my father, trading abuse for neglect.
At the time that I moved, we had no kitchen sink and to get to the one working fridge required climbing down broken stairs that shift and tilt as you move. There are numerous electrical issues, and for the entire month of September, I had no reliable running water. I am constantly berated, mocked, and harassed. I can't carry cash because it "goes missing." My brother is so determined to steal from me that my bedroom door has hammer holes in it and another bedroom door has had the lock fully broken off. I simply need to get out of here.
"What will this money be for?" My first priority is sending in my transcripts ($30) which I need for class registration. Next is repairing my car to make it street-legal again (it needs a new headlight, an oil change, a new license plate light-- there's other repairs needed but those are the current absolute necessities) so that I can get to my local train station. Next are Metra and CTA rail passes to commute to class until I can get an apartment in the city (monthly this is $75 Metra, $70 CTA). I'm planning on using my student loans to get an apartment until I find a stable job in the city to pay my rent instead, but I need help getting to school before I can do that.
Any and all help is so so so appreciated. Thank you all so much. :)
Organizer
Phoenix Bucklin
Organizer
Cary, IL