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Hey everyone, my name is Rowan. I'm a 27 year old transgender person that's struggling to get by on their own.. I don't like to ask.. but I was wondering if I could get some help from you all.
2021 has been one of the most challenging I've experienced especially as I am on my own for the first time trying to stay afloat but I did my best.. However, the beginning of 2022 is proving to be just as difficult, if not more.
At the end 2020, my mother made the decision to move herself and my brothers out of the state of Florida for mental and financial benefits to her. Being here was too expensive on her own. Which I understood. I however, did not have the same choice to move with them.. My life was here. I'm still a student, I have a healthy support system in friends, I have an okay job with good supportive people I care about. Leaving would have completely mentally and emotionally destroyed me. Especially upon the realization that I was transgender and would be seeking to socially and medically transition. So I stayed.
I've been renting a room from a friend's mother and while I'm appreciative of her generally opening her home to me.. this place has not felt like a home in the least. But only really having one small room to yourself will do that to you. I was managing my life for the most part alright in 2021 since I was working near full-time hours as a part-timer at my job for majority of the year. But I also spent half the year not in classes. My education was becoming seriously neglected in support of necessary but short-sighted goals like paying bills and rent on time and keep food around and available for me to eat..
But, by 2022, I should have been a senior, about to graduate, ready to enter the graphic design field, where I could be way better off financially and emotionally happier, doing what I love. Having to adjust my life, to being on my own, had left that out of reach for me and I don't have the mental energy to continue working retail and customer service for much longer. So currently, I am back in classes.. which unfortunately caused a great cut to my hours and thus, is leaving me more financially burdened than before.
Going from 40 hours to 15 hours a week has made, covering my bill load, my rent, even my medication near impossible. I have to pick and choose if my money will be allocated to groceries for the week, public transportation costs to and from work, school, and home, and whatever other bills I'm capable of covering. Right now, this is the most dire situation I have found myself in and the area I need the most immediate help in especially since I am now late on rent.
I am currently trying to find an additional job that I can hopefully work around my school schedule. Even though, the idea makes me uncomfortable, not because it's more strain or work, I'm never shy about putting more work in, but because it's another place I'll have to commute to by public transportation, something else that I want to rectify and change this year by actually getting my license and a cheap car to get me around all these places easier.
There is also that worry that once I come out to them that they won't accept my gender identity and I'll be met with bigotry.. Living under the radar as a woman has become so uncomfortable and mentally taxing for me because of the dysphoria it causes in me. Which.. brings me to the topic of my transition.
The one thing that has been great for me in 2021 was my social transition. Most of my friends, my coworkers, and some family have been kind and accepting and that has felt very affirming. But also does not feel enough. As time goes on and as more time passes, dealing with myself and having that.. disconnection of myself from the body I see is becoming worse and harder to deal with. Which is why I want to make 2022 the year I begin my medical transition journey. I have been researching it since even before I realized fully I was a transgender person and I know I am more than ready for it.
I already know from contacting my current insurance company, that it does not cover transgender care, so I will be paying for HRT and surgery out of pocket and at full costs, which was a heavy thing to find out.
I've already found the surgeon and practice that I would like to do my top surgery with and will be doing a virtual consultation with them soon for more in-depth information about the procedure, cost, and everything in between.
I know it is a lot and everything, especially my medical transition journey, will take time. But if I start on these things at least, I'll be on the road to feeling better and hopefully finding myself in a better emotional and stable state because right now, I don't have it.
I've been renting a room from a friend's mother and while I'm appreciative of her generally opening her home to me.. this place has not felt like a home in the least. But only really having one small room to yourself will do that to you. I was managing my life for the most part alright in 2021 since I was working near full-time hours as a part-timer at my job for majority of the year. But I also spent half the year not in classes. My education was becoming seriously neglected in support of necessary but short-sighted goals like paying bills and rent on time and keep food around and available for me to eat..
But, by 2022, I should have been a senior, about to graduate, ready to enter the graphic design field, where I could be way better off financially and emotionally happier, doing what I love. Having to adjust my life, to being on my own, had left that out of reach for me and I don't have the mental energy to continue working retail and customer service for much longer. So currently, I am back in classes.. which unfortunately caused a great cut to my hours and thus, is leaving me more financially burdened than before.
Going from 40 hours to 15 hours a week has made, covering my bill load, my rent, even my medication near impossible. I have to pick and choose if my money will be allocated to groceries for the week, public transportation costs to and from work, school, and home, and whatever other bills I'm capable of covering. Right now, this is the most dire situation I have found myself in and the area I need the most immediate help in especially since I am now late on rent.
I am currently trying to find an additional job that I can hopefully work around my school schedule. Even though, the idea makes me uncomfortable, not because it's more strain or work, I'm never shy about putting more work in, but because it's another place I'll have to commute to by public transportation, something else that I want to rectify and change this year by actually getting my license and a cheap car to get me around all these places easier.
There is also that worry that once I come out to them that they won't accept my gender identity and I'll be met with bigotry.. Living under the radar as a woman has become so uncomfortable and mentally taxing for me because of the dysphoria it causes in me. Which.. brings me to the topic of my transition.
The one thing that has been great for me in 2021 was my social transition. Most of my friends, my coworkers, and some family have been kind and accepting and that has felt very affirming. But also does not feel enough. As time goes on and as more time passes, dealing with myself and having that.. disconnection of myself from the body I see is becoming worse and harder to deal with. Which is why I want to make 2022 the year I begin my medical transition journey. I have been researching it since even before I realized fully I was a transgender person and I know I am more than ready for it.
I already know from contacting my current insurance company, that it does not cover transgender care, so I will be paying for HRT and surgery out of pocket and at full costs, which was a heavy thing to find out.
I've already found the surgeon and practice that I would like to do my top surgery with and will be doing a virtual consultation with them soon for more in-depth information about the procedure, cost, and everything in between.
I know it is a lot and everything, especially my medical transition journey, will take time. But if I start on these things at least, I'll be on the road to feeling better and hopefully finding myself in a better emotional and stable state because right now, I don't have it.
So.. I'm asking for help. In either a share or a donation to help me raise the money in attempt to overall better my living situation and help me with making some pretty great and necessary strides in my life.
The amount in total is 24,000 which will be allocated accordingly:
11,500 - Top Surgery with Sidhbh Gallagher (subject to change based on future consultation)
6,000 - Transportation (Cost of Drug and Alcohol Course, Online Permit Exam, Test Prep, driving school sessions, Older used car, registration, and first insurance payment)
3,200 - (Estimated cost for a year's worth of my medications with the average cost of HRT, subject to change after meeting my new primary under new insurance)
The remainder being about 3,300 will be what I will use to currently cover any bills, rent, and food costs that I will need.
The amount in total is 24,000 which will be allocated accordingly:
11,500 - Top Surgery with Sidhbh Gallagher (subject to change based on future consultation)
6,000 - Transportation (Cost of Drug and Alcohol Course, Online Permit Exam, Test Prep, driving school sessions, Older used car, registration, and first insurance payment)
3,200 - (Estimated cost for a year's worth of my medications with the average cost of HRT, subject to change after meeting my new primary under new insurance)
The remainder being about 3,300 will be what I will use to currently cover any bills, rent, and food costs that I will need.