Hi, I'm Ezra. I'm in the glasses. And next to me is my best friend Rez.

I’m asking for help in getting Rez and his mom out of an abusive living situation and into an apartment of their own so that they can begin to rebuild their lives.

For the last few years, Rez and his mom have been in an unsafe domestic environment, living with a violent, controlling, and deeply, unnervingly jealous man. They’ve been needing to find a way out for a while now, and while Rez’s mom has been able to make money driving for a gig delivery service, the Asshole demands all the earnings and requires that she use his car, while hers sits, out of commission and rusting in the driveway.

He has kept Rez’s mother from opening a bank account, he has taken out all debt in her name, he has utterly crippled any ability she may have had to survive on her own without him. Because of this, they’ve been unable to save anything up in order to ensure them the means to get to safety.

But now things are reaching a fever pitch. The Asshole’s behavior has hit its boiling point, and he's made it clear that he is just itching to be given a reason to follow through with the threats he’s been making for years. Constant threats to “watch your back”, mind games, kitchen warfare in the form of resource guarding food. He’s been using intimidation and manipulation to try to get details about their escape plan out of Rez’s mom, and has mentioned more than once that he’s had enough of Rez “being a problem” and that he intends to “take care” of that problem.

There are firearms in the home, which Asshole is sure to brandish at every opportunity to remind them who’s in charge. They are also in a part of their state that is very sprawled out, so walking to safety won't be an option when they inevitably need to make a quick exit. Plans have been made, safewords and escape routes have all been established, but until we have the funds we need, they’re sitting ducks.

Once we are able to get them out of the immediate danger, then they can focus on building a life of their own, in which they are in control of where they are, what they do, who they’re with, and all of the other little bits of personal autonomy that allow us to feel in control of our own lives.

Rez has so many skills, and so many ideas, and has so much to give to the world, but like so many others, every minute of every day is focused on dodging the barriers that keep him from being able to move forward, focusing purely on survival. If he had a safe place for him and his mom to live, reliable access to resources people need to survive, and an environment that wasn’t brimming with toxic sludge in the shape of a human man, he and his mom could both breathe, knowing their basic needs were handled, and could then dedicate their time and resources to building a new life for themselves.

Giving someone CPR when they’re still actively drowning in the middle of the ocean is pointless. What I’m hoping to achieve with this fundraiser is to gather the funds we need in order to facilitate their escape. They haven’t even been able to stay above water long enough to save anything to put towards a hypothetical future escape. Now, that escape is no longer hypothetical nor future.

We urgently need $3,500 in order for Rez and his mom to escape their current situation as immediately as they possibly can. This number includes a contingency cushion for things like fluctuating prices and GFM fees, and the itemized needs are broken down below, listed in order of priority. That way, even if we have not yet reached our goal, any funds we are able to gather can be immediately placed towards the very first thing on the list. This is so that we are able to get as early as a head-start as possible - because at this point, every second counts.

They cannot do anything until they get her car fixed. It needs a new battery at minimum, but there may be other issues with the car that we won’t know about until we get it looked at. So the first $400 we are able to gather will be immediately put into fixing the car.

Once they make their escape, they need a place to live. Because of how urgent this is, we do not have the luxury of waiting until they have secured an apartment to make their exit. It’s just something we’re going to have to figure out later - the immediate need is getting them on the road and as far away from that house as possible. So if we are able to make that happen, what we need next is temporary lodging for them while they try to secure an apartment. We’ve got our eye on a few different options, but have not the means to put down any sort of deposit or reserve a unit ahead of time.

Because we don’t have an exact timeline, we’re being a little generous with our estimate for these motel costs. We’d like to be able to secure the funds to keep them in a motel for roughly two weeks if needed, but the truth is, it might be longer before we can secure an apartment, and motel rates add up real quick. So we are asking for $550 to allot for motel fees.

Any apartment we are able to find for them is going to require initial setup fees like a deposit, first and/or last month’s rent, and utility activations, in addition to the monthly rent. In order to cover these setup costs, we are allotting $1300.

Once they have secured their apartment, they will need to furnish it, because when they finally leave that house, it will likely be with the clothes on their backs and not much else. This isn’t a family move, this is a hostage escape, so they will be starting from zero. In order to furnish and equip their new apartment with the basics they need to get started, we are hoping to raise $800.

These costs, both total goal and specific prices per need, are what we are roughly estimating will be needed to get Rez and his mom out of immediate danger, but the journey to long-term safety, security and stability is far from over. It’s going to take a lot of time, effort and honestly, a whole lot of luck.

As such, any additional funds we receive over our initial goal will be applied to their living expenses going forward, as a cushion. So if you feel moved to do so, we will graciously continue to accept any and all donations past our goal.

The bigger a financial head-start we can give them, the better chance they have of achieving long-term stability and quality of life.

This doofus means the world to me and I just want him and his mom to have a safe, comfortable place to call home, where they can pursue the lives they want to live, rather than spending all of their time and attention focused purely on survival.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I will update as things progress, and am available to field any questions or concerns you have for Rez and his mom or about the fundraiser in general.

If you can't donate, please consider sharing. Take care, and have a happy holiday season. :)