Secure Adrian's Future in Iowa City

My name is Adrian (some people in my community know me as AJ, Dairy, or Lake) and I'm a queer trans person living in Iowa. I am preparing for the possibility that I may be jobless while paying legal fees in the coming months and I have no savings.

For the past few years, I have been working for a state institution that has, now, repeatedly tried to interfere with my ability to live and thrive. I currently rely on my employment for more than just an income. I rely on my employer for my health insurance and healthcare as a disabled person, daily meals, and even food pantry services. However, because of the targeting I have experienced as a trans protestor, my job is no longer secure.

Due to rising costs of groceries, utilities, and my rent on top of the monthly expenses and debt that I pay each month, I am seeking help with staying afloat, especially while I am at elevated risk of losing my job as a trans person who protests, participates in and helps to organize political demonstrations, and other actions, especially those which demand accountability from local police departments.

Typically, financial advice sources suggest saving an amount equivalent to at least three months of expenses. For the past two years, my take-home pay has consistently been roughly $2,500 per month, with $2,300 of that being used to pay for my rent, utilities, basic needs, and debt payments. Money that I had previously saved from my past few years of employment was used to pay my attorney for helping me to stand my ground and defend myself while previously being interrogated by my institution's HR department. To ensure that I have enough to cover my needs and debts, should my employment be terminated suddenly while I am looking for another job—as well as any legal fees I may have to pay, should I need an attorney to accompany me to another HR interrogation—I am hoping to raise $7,500.

Since I presently have no savings, even if I successfully find another job and do not end up requiring help with any further legal expenses, meeting this funding goal will make it possible for me to continue living in Iowa City and volunteering in this community as much as I can.

Being a transgender person in Iowa is a difficult uphill struggle, especially in Iowa City. I have witnessed firsthand—and been both directly and indirectly impacted by—the over-policing of the Iowa City trans community.

I love my community and this city too much to leave it. I simply want to stay here and survive so that I can continue contributing to the community that has helped me so many times in the past, the community that I would do anything for.