Support Adam and Warren's Housing Journey

Hello! We are Adam and Warren Lodestone. We've been in flux for a few months now and are seeking help to stabilize our lives. We are asking for help with short-term housing costs and a security deposit on a new apartment.

We are a father and son, both Transgender, both multiply Neurodivergent, both multiply disabled.

I am Autistic, have OCD, and am Dyspraxic.

Warren is an ADHDer who has clinical depression and a few as-yet undiagnosed mental health conditions.

Warren and I both have hypermobile-type Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

We are both healing from profound complex trauma and severe burnout. My epic Autistic burnout episode of 2019 is still rippling and causing repercussions.

Warren's educational career was disrupted by domestic [emotional and psychological] violence, homelessness, the Pandemic, the relocation of his high school to a defunct shopping mall, by school admin and staff ignoring his 504 plan, and by a violent s*xual assault that happened in our neighborhood, for which there was minimal healing support available (because of the Pandemic and due to a lack of truly qualified trauma-informed practitioners in our area).

Add to that the inertia caused by his depression and innate neurodivergence... he has had tremendous obstacles to contend with.

I am a professional in the mental health field. With a background in Expressive Art Therapy and Transpersonal Psychology, and with relevant lived experience, I am a Peer and Parent Counselor and Mentor for the Neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ populations, working with a Pay What You Can model for my practice.

I work within this model because I believe that mental health support should be accessible to everyone. Some of my clients pay a fair market rate for my services, some folks pay in the very low double digits.

I am also known as The Awetist on social media. I use that Page and persona for artistic expression and advocacy. My multi-media fine art and the comic strip The Triumph of Small Things™ can be found on my social media pages and on my ko-fi website.

Back in January of this year, we had to relinquish our apartment when a second rent increase became unviable for me (Adam) to cover on my own. We had lived there in that apartment for almost five years.

New owners/landlords implemented a $300 rent increase after purchasing the property and then gave notice of an additional $200 increase as we entered a 2nd year with them as landlords... an increase which made staying put impossible.

Warren was unable to work at that time due to a lack of access to badly needed mental health and medical support, stated in the simplest of terms.

We were given a great opportunity to rest, restore, and reset: a friend invited us into her home and we have been staying there, with her and her family, for a few months. Paying a modest "rent" to her has been manageable. We've managed to save some funds towards future housing costs.

The only issue is that said friend is in Canada and our lives are rooted in Vermont, in the U.S. Our medical care, in particular, is established here.

We came down to Vermont, recently, to attend medical appointments, among other things, and found ourselves in a flurry of new potentials for housing and jobs. All of the rentals in the Burlington area (of Vermont) tend to have leases that begin in May through July.

There is exceptionally low vacancy here and competition for rentals is FIERCE. It takes a whole lot of energy and time to secure a place to live.

So NOW is the time to get on that and stay on it until we sign on the dotted line.

We have a friend who is applying for rentals with us. We have a co-signer. Things are looking good. But it is a hustle.

And we face extra obstacles in our searches: I am self-employed. My income fluctuates month-to-month.

And because of my legal name and gender marker changes, I essentially don't exist as far as the big three credit reporting agencies are concerned.

This is a systemic issue that many thousands of Trans people are affected by. Most property management companies and landlords run credit and background checks on applicants and use the big three credit reporting agencies to do so.

They won't even be able to verify my identity if they run a check on me, a fact that disadvantages me/us. I have to out myself as Trans to prove that I am who I say I am.

But I do have incredible landlord references and a strong rental history going for me. That is something, anyway.

Warren has no rental or credit history and is currently unemployed (but hopefully not for long). As of right now (04/26), he has two jobs that are strong potentials. We will know for sure in a few days if he's got those jobs and has secured that income.

Our third applicant works full-time, has a fantastic employment history/references and great credit, but no rental history.

If you smoosh us all together, we are one fantastic tenant!! I know that if we are persistent, we will find the right place to land.

Now, we are in that cycle of putting in applications for apartments, going to open houses and apartment viewings, Warren putting in applications for jobs, going to interviews, we are both attending medical appointments... and we need to commit to staying in Vermont.

Warren, in particular, needs a stable home life.

Maintaining his mental health requires him to see meaningful progress towards his [self-defined] goals:

Consistent access to the right (psych and gender-affirming) medications, getting his top surgery done at last after having it delayed for more than 4 years, finding a good therapist, building a routine, having a job, paying his own way, getting his GED, and starting on the path towards his long-term vocational goals.

One day, he would love to become a tattoo artist. He certainly has the artistic talent and aesthetic to succeed in that career.

Giving my son a fighting chance to heal, to find his momentum, to thrive makes manifesting secure housing and maintaining a stable home life an absolute necessity.

Giving myself a fighting chance to continue to heal from burnout, grow my practice, serve my clients with my all, become more effective in my advocacy, have time and spoons with which to move into creative endeavors, and do the things that nourish me and refill my cup is also an absolute necessity.

On the way there, we need local shelter. But short-term rentals of all kinds are SPENDY!!

The lowest rate we could find for a motel is $110 per day. An Air BnB (as much as I HATE to support that model and that platform) could save us a little money if we need to stay in one for 2 weeks or a month, while we do the rental search shuffle.

We are looking at $2000-$3000 easily, just to have a roof over our heads while we look for permanent housing.

That is not even accounting for food/meals, phone service, laundry, local transportation costs, co-pays on our prescriptions, monthly rent for our storage unit, and the expense of traveling to Canada and back, to retrieve our belongings.

These expenses, listed here: I am paying for out of pocket.

Cost Breakdown:

$3000: to pay for a motel or Air BnB for shelter for the month of May, with taxes and charges included.

Total ask: $3000.

Please and thank you to our friends, family, and greater community.

Adam and Warren Lodestone