Hi there! I'm Sky. And I could use your help.

I'm a 30-year-old non-binary person with OCD and severe anxiety living in Colorado. I'm struggling to make ends meet and get my lifelong career dreams back on track. My dream is to someday be an Embedded Hardware Designer or Project Lead for a team specializing in Virtual or Extended Reality devices. I'm looking to raise just enough money to cover moving costs and help make sure I can re home or board my elderly dog Rai safely, with the grooming and veterinary care he'd need for me to qualify to do so.

I love novel interfaces and hardware and am passionate about interesting and cool ways to turn Sci-Fi concepts into reality safely, but I've struggled since graduating college in 2020 to find a stable entry point into my career field for both economic and personal reasons.

On the personal side, I was diagnosed with OCD and chronic anxiety that were exacerbated by a series of traumatic and stressful events in my youth, including fiscal and housing insecurities, emotional fallout from chronic and debilitating parental and familial health problems, and the deaths of several family members. Working to overcome or at least co-exist with my disability and trauma has been incredibly challenging, to say the least.

On the economic side, I was unable to land a career internship after graduating college with a Bachelor's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. I graduated during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when entry-level positions were scarce or adversely affected by hiring freezes. To make do, I instead picked up a full-time job for Amazon in a warehouse logistics support role, a role completely outside of my career field, that I had intended to only be temporary but wound up lasting a long and grueling four whole years (2020-2024).

I eventually had to step away from Amazon in 2024 when the promotion I had taken turned out to be an incredibly bad fit for me. I did not realize it at the time, but I had at some point developed severe amaxophobia as an extension of my anxiety disorder, and my new role required driving upwards of 6-8 hours every day as part of the basic workflow.

The strain from this job and other stressors at home caused my disability symptoms to worsen to the point where I was unable to perform basic day-to-day functions, self-care, or even leave my home to seek medical help, intervention, or mental health treatment. I have been effectively unemployed ever since.

I've spent the last year and a half with supportive and caring friends who helped me slowly work towards rebuilding my mental and emotional state to the point where I finally feel both confident and capable enough to work full-time again.

I've finally managed to land a job offer after all these months, but to work it full-time, I need to move across the state of Colorado to a home share a few minutes away from my work site since I don't currently own or feel I am capable of operating an automotive vehicle safely, nor do I currently have an active driver's license. I also have a pet Chinchilla named Buddy who is approved to room with me in my new home and an ailing elderly Bordie Collie named Rai who has been living with me for some time, but who I'll need to have re-homed or boarded since my lease doesn't accept dogs and I'll need to go through basic veterinary care and screenings to qualify for having him boarded or sheltered.

I'm putting out this GoFundMe to raise enough money to cover basic moving, rent, food, everyday survival, and veterinary expenses in this short-term period so that I can transition into my new job and, eventually, start working towards an out-of-college internship, returnship, apprenticeship, or Master's degree certification extension and career re-entry program for my career field.

I'm estimating right now that I'll need roughly $1000 to cover my first month's rent and deposit, up to $1000 for moving and transit costs involved in going from Parker, Colorado to Colorado Springs, up to $500 for one month's worth of grocery, food, and transit costs, and anywhere from $1000 - $2500 for costs related to pet sheltering, veterinary care, and boarding. And that might be a modest estimate at best: with costs rising rapidly each day, I'm not sure if the costs I see today will reflect accurately tomorrow.

Once I've been in and working for a few weeks/months, things will start to get better for me, but right now I'm very VERY low on funds due to how long I've been out of work while trying to piece my mental and emotional state back together, and am asking for any and all help that one could spare to help me get to the point where I can start taking care of myself again full-time.

Becoming an Embedded Hardware Designer, especially for what I want to focus on, is a long and difficult journey with not a lot of straightforward guarantees, but it's what I'm passionate about and what I want to contribute to the world. I want to make cool and interesting things that people can enjoy using. Things that help them connect with others and share and communicate in ways they never have before.

But I know that to do so, I'll have to spend a lot of time, energy, and resources digging in, bettering myself, and proving my worth and value to both myself and others, and I think I'm at the point where I can say with absolute confidence that I'm both ready and able to do so, provided I can find just enough outside support to get finally started.

So please, if you resonate at all with my story or are willing to help in any way, please donate. Anything and everything helps, no matter how big or small. A little bit now will mean a world of difference for me in the future, and I am the type of person who always tries to give back when given to.

When I get back on my feet, and I will say when and not if, I promise to do the same for as many people in situations similar to mine as I can, but right now I could definitely use the help and goodwill of friends and strangers alike as I take these first steps towards career and workforce re-entry, and finally making something good and worthwhile of my long and difficult life.

Thanks so, so much for your time and consideration, and I hope you have a wonderful day simply for having read this far, donation or not.

-Sky Preston Alsever