Laid off Animation Industry worker in need of Financial Help

Hello everyone,

I'm coming to you all with a bit of apprehension and a bit of shame, but I am in need of financial help. I have been draining my savings and I make very little in extra income.

I am an illustrator and character designer in the animation industry who was laid off back in April 2023 from their full-time studio job.

I have been surviving off of gigs here and there ever since (my last big one ending last summer), but unfortunately it hasn't been enough to replenish the money I have lost. Nowadays there are so few gigs available. I have been searching for creative industry jobs as well as non-art jobs of every income level, but I haven't been able to snag anything up and my situation is getting incredibly dire. I have tried the Patreon route, but I just do not have enough exposure and/or follower count for it to be sustainable currently, so I need to find another source of income while I build that audience.

I have been absent from my public facing social media and platforms the past couple months because I've been having to deal with a serious personal situation and a traumatic event.

For the sake of brevity, I had originally planned on moving back in with my parents this summer in hopes to save money and safely look for jobs, however, that plan completely fell apart due to an incident that threatened my personal safety. For my privacy I’d like to avoid going into detail, but my parents are not a viable option for support as I have gone no contact with them.

If I don't find a job by the end of my lease (end of September), I will not have enough funds to sign onto another 12 month lease. I can still feasibly sign onto shorter leases, but that will increase my rent significantly and may risk draining my savings faster (as it stands I will have barely enough left by the end of the year). I have also set aside funds to throw my belongings in storage if it comes to that, so I want to account for that as well.

I do not want to risk zeroing out my bank account before I ask for help, so this is my way of getting ahead of it. If I could just replenish even a small portion of the savings I have lost since my layoff, I think it will give me a boost to keep looking for jobs without the stress of running out of funds. If I happen to snag a job a lot sooner than expected, I will close the page and point everyone to my Patreon and my Ko-Fi.

I will be thoroughly grateful if you can share this GoFundMe page, and here are my social media links if you would like to check out my work or get in contact with me. Thank you!

Bluesky

Instagram

Patreon

All other social media links:

Carrd

Thank you kindly,

Jung-Ha Kim