River and kid stay in home

UPDATE #2: I am still short for my January rent, which is technically due today. If you can afford to donate, any amount would be of help. If you can't afford to donate but you are able to share, I'd really appreciate it. And if you can't do either, please don't sweat it. Sending love to y'all in this time of transition

UPDATE: I paid the past-due amount, thanks to your generosity! I'm now trying to raise the additional $1750 before the end of December, so that I'm able to pay my January rent on time! Thank you to all who have given and all who have shared. Your support has been more than I could have hoped for!

ORIGINAL: I received a 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Move Out on my front door today. I have until Friday 12/15/23 to pay the remainder of rent due for December, so time is of the essence! (I was already preparing this fundraiser, based on earlier communication from the rental management agency. Now I have an exact deadline... and also a small heart palpitation...)

I'm a disabled graduate student and parent to a first grader. I am short on rent for this month and next (until my financial aid for the Winter quarter arrives in late January), and I need help urgently!

My immediate fundraising goal is $1750 via GoFundMe by Thursday 12/14/23. I ultimately need to raise another $1750 by Friday 12/29/23. Any additional money raised will go into savings to establish a prudent reserve.

For those wondering where I've been the last three+ years, here's some more info:

I had already been experiencing chronic pain/fatigue/arthritis issues regularly since giving birth in 2017. My symptoms very quickly got worse when I went back to work outside of the home as a bookkeeper for a non-profit, beginning part-time at the end of January 2020, which almost immediately turned into a remote, full-time, finance manager role (and soon after, a director of finance role). I began to walk with a cane and to spend my non-work hours mostly supine in bed.

In August 2021, I went on temporary disability leave, due to exhaustion and acute chronic pain. I thought I would just take a little break, reset, and be back to work in 6 to 8 weeks. I never bounced back. I've been diagnosed with axial spondyloarthritis, which, in addition to lower back pain, causes inflammation of tendons in my limbs, as well as osteoarthritis in my right hip. I also have chronic fatigue, possibly ME/CFS, possibly something else.

I cannot sit for long periods of time, and I cannot type for long periods of time, due to my disabilities, which means I can't do accounting work, which I have been doing for over a decade. I am in the process of shifting careers, to become a LMFT in the State of California. I'm only cleared by my doctor to do up to 20 hours of sedentary work per week (as of April 2023). I am attending Antioch University Los Angeles part-time via their low-residency MA in Clinical Psychology Program, which I began in Spring 2023, as my first step toward a new profession.

I am using all the social services resources available to me, though I'm not going to go into detail about the vagaries of bureaucratic barriers to access. (In lieu of a recounting of the Kafkaesque paths to accessing health care, SNAP, disability benefits, any kind of social safety net, I will just say that it would be more cost-effective to provide everyone with Universal Basic Income than to means-test people in need.)

I don't feel comfortable divulging too much about my kid, so I will just say that they are doing well. They live with me during the week and attend a really wonderful, small school within walking distance of our place. We moved to our new home here shortly before they started kindergarten, and they are now in first grade at the same school, where we have built community for us both. Their other parent and I are separated, and we are in the process of dissolution of marriage. (They live with their other parent on weekends.) We are both committed to making sure that the kid has all the support and stability and community they need, now and in the future.

Please donate to this fundraiser only if you are able to do so comfortably. I know it's hard out there for everyone, especially this time of year; please don't feel any pressure to give. If you can't give but you're able to share to others, that's great. If you can't give and you can't share with others, that's great, too

If you know me personally and cannot donate but have the ability/desire to offer a loan, please message me.

(Also, if you prefer to donate via Venmo, please message me, and I will give you that information)