After 429 days without stable housing, my partner Emi, our dog Nook, and I finally moved into a home in Oshkosh on August 20.

I'm asking for help with one immediate goal: keeping that home stable while I keep working.

Our next rent payment is $1,400, due October 1. I'm driving for Uber and putting my earnings toward it every day. I have part of the rent covered already and I'm working down the rest. Donations help close whatever gap is left so we can protect the stability we spent 429 days trying to regain.

I'm working every day to cover as much of it as I can. Help from others covers the distance I can't close on my own before rent comes due.

Rent comes first.

If rent is fully covered, any additional donations will go only toward bringing our belongings home from storage in Burnsville, Minnesota. Most of what we own is still there after our move to Wisconsin.

I'll post updates as things change so donors can see the gap moving. Right now, I'm short, I'm driving, and every day of work makes the number smaller.

How we got here

I want to be transparent about what led to our homelessness.

We lost our Minnesota housing in June 2025 after an eviction and payment dispute. We had missed a June 5 payment deadline. After that deadline, I obtained $1,884 in money orders and attempted to make the payment before the sheriff lockout. Management declined to accept the payment, and on June 17, 2025, the sheriff removed us from the property.

I'm not asking anyone donating here to decide the old legal dispute. I'm including it because I don't want to leave out something a reasonable person might want to know.

What matters now is that after 429 days without stable housing, we finally have a place of our own again, and I'm doing everything I can to keep it.

If you can donate $5, $20, or another amount that works for you, thank you. If donating isn't possible, sharing the fundraiser with someone who may be able to help means just as much.

Every donation goes to rent first and, once rent is covered, bringing our belongings home. Nothing else.

Thank you for helping Emi, Nook, and me keep moving forward.

— Ben