Hi there, and thank you for being here.

Whether you're a friend or a kind stranger, I truly appreciate you taking a moment to read my story.

I’m reaching out now because after years of holding things together, I’ve hit a point where I need help. Over the past five years, multiple crises have stacked up—health, housing, safety—and I’ve exhausted the resources I had.

First, the pandemic changed my life in ways that still affect me daily. As someone with a compromised immune system, there is no “back to normal.” I live carefully—masking, timing vaccines, limiting exposure—yet despite all that, I’ve contracted COVID seven times. This ongoing health risk has kept me in isolation, cut off from community, and left me constantly managing the fallout.

Second, a difficult divorce left me displaced and financially drained. I lost my home, savings, car, and security. The court awarded me alimony, but my former spouse stopped paying it after six months. Over $6,000 is owed to me.

I’m also urgently trying to find stable housing—ideally in Portland, where I have some community roots. I’m open to creative solutions, including work-trade. I’m extremely handy in the yard and garden, love animals, and would be a respectful and helpful presence in a home. If you have leads, ideas, or connections, I’d be so grateful to hear from you.

Through all of this, I’ve remained in therapy. My therapist has been a steady support and has been urging me for a long time to ask for help—to stop trying to survive alone. It’s not easy for me to reach out like this, but I’m finally listening. I’m also actively taking care of my physical and mental health the best I can with the tools and access I have, and every bit of support helps me keep going.

Lastly, I’m a queer, autistic person living with HIV in a country where rights are being stripped away at a frightening pace. The political climate is increasingly hostile, and with the looming rollback of Medicaid, I face the real possibility of losing access to the treatment that keeps me alive. I’m trying to make a plan for survival—and for a future that feels safe and livable.

This fundraiser will help me cover:

~A phone of my own (I’m currently using a borrowed one)

~Food and storage costs for the belongings I have left

~Passport renewal to open up safer options abroad

~Legal fees related to my divorce

~Medical debt that’s piling up

~A small cushion to support myself while I work to get resettled in a safer place (moving expenses, deposit, first/last month of rent)

Every donation helps create the possibility of not just surviving—but living again, with dignity, agency, and hope. If you can give, thank you. If you can share, thank you. Your support means more than I can express.

With gratitude,

Leviathan “Otter”

(please message with any leads about housing or work in the Portland area)