Recovering From Financial Hardships

Hello, I'm Renee and here is my story. I'm a Transwoman who is trying to find a path forward in 2018. At the end of 2016 I began suffering from Intracranial Hypertension and for the first quarter of 2017, I was legally blind due to my symptoms. My vision and condition were so bad, my father had to work remotely with me to assist me with living as I suffered from terrible head pain, couldn't see very well and I had severe reactions to medication that were necessary to try and save my eyesight. After numerous treatments, therapies, and finally surgeries on my eyes we were able to recover my eyesight, however, I had slight damage to the optic nerve that remains with me to this day.

In the middle of 2017, I was laid off from my job. I was already drowning in medical bills from the numerous treatments and surgeries. While I had a plan to recover from them, losing my job made that more difficult. I found people to help give me a place to live and lower my cost of living and set a budget. The goal was to find a job by the end of the year.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to land a job. I faced a tough job market where I lived. I had a diverse background in technical skills and mid-management leadership skills. In the times I did get feedback, I found myself being told I wouldn't be challenged enough in the jobs I applied for, or we can't pay you enough to stay (despite agreeing to salary requirements early in the interview process).

I also faced discrimination on the job hunt. Some of it was outright being asked if I was trans, others were more subtle where I was adored over multiple phone interviews and then as soon as I was seen for an in-person interview the entire process went cold.

So now unemployment is gone and my financial situation is about to tip to defaulting on my obligations. I've secured a scholarship to attend a coding boot camp to get me a new set of skills to make me more desirable on the job market and hopefully get me over the hurdle of being discriminated against, but until then my situation is dire and I am looking for financial help so I don't default on my obligations, can attend this coding boot camp and get a new job by the start of summer of 2018.

I am so grateful for any help you can assist me with. I want to be a contributing member of society again, I want to get my life back that I feel my Intracranial Hypertension started to rob me of and then the layoff accelerated.