Help Alexie and Tor Keep Their Home

Hello, everyone!

I am in a real pickle and could really use your help. My name is Alexie. I live with my partner, Tor, in Los Angeles, CA. Tor is a cook and I am an actor, mostly working in the background. I also make costumes, am an underwater mermaid performer, and I Uber when I don't have any other work.

We originally moved to California in March of 2020, just 5 hours before the pandemic shut down the state. But we made it through! We found work and we thrived. I started acting here in 2021 and I was working enough to pay my bills with it! This is what I moved here to do, and I was so very happy to be doing it.

In 2023, SAG-AFTRA called for a strike for better pay and working conditions. As a policy, if you work struck work during a strike, you will not be allowed to ever join the union. Since it was a goal of mine to do so, I did not work. For 6 months, we didn't work. And I couldn't fall back on my costuming skills as they were not needed since production had stopped. Because I was not yet union, I did not have any assistance bills-wise. I maxed out my credit cards to survive, hoping that when we came back, we would come back strong, so I could pay everything off. Though the end of 2023 was strong, there just wasn't enough time to hit the ground running before shutting down for the holidays.

2024 held so much promise. Everyone was saying that work was just around the bend and I was having a bunch of offers to work SAG jobs. Unfortunately, I was non-union at the time and had used up all of my "freebies" to work SAG roles previously, so I kept having to turn them down. We decided to pay the $3000 initiation fee for me to join SAG, so I could get better-paying work.

Unfortunately, this did not help as many of the jobs I was offered previously were no longer available and there are far fewer SAG jobs than there are non-union jobs. But we kept trying. I took to Ubering every once in a while to help fill the gaps. I was sure the work was right around the bend as the managing services kept telling us. Unfortunately, 2024 saw one of the historically lowest years for film production in LA, which has been heartbreaking. My food assistance was also cut in December due to me making enough to survive in the month of October.

Coming off November and December, which are typically very slow due to production shutdown during the holidays, we came into January with bright eyes and hope, only to be hit once again. This time, it was the wildfires. I stayed up so many nights tracking all of the fires popping up around us. Eaton was on the mountain just behind the range behind our home. We were in a state of survival, glued to our phones with go bags packed. Tor and I were just outside the evacuation zone waiting to get an alert that we needed to leave. Thankfully, Tor and I have been very lucky. We have not lost our home. We are alive and our kitties are safe. However, monetarily we were impacted. Tor's work shut down for several days and is still slow to recover. Many people are still in survival mode or had to flee. Not many are thinking to go on a bike ride or go eat at a restaurant, which his work specializes in, being just off the bike trail. His days are being cut short or are being cut altogether. Production shut down for about a week and since many people aren't going out for fun right now, Uber has been extremely slow, with me getting one rider in 6 hours. It has been extremely difficult lately, and we could really use your help.

I have been failing in regards to my half of the bills. Earlier this year, I had to forego my credit card payments in lieu of paying my rent. Unfortunately, starting at the beginning of October, I fell behind and couldn't pay my rent. I worked hard and paid off October and November so I was all caught up. But as November slowed along with December, I couldn't pay December or January and am now two months behind, owing $3,340. That's just my half. In a week and a half, I will owe another month, which will be another $1,300. I have fallen behind by a few weeks on my phone bill and it has now been suspended, so I can't work Uber until I pay that. There are other bills that we are behind on like storage and whatnot. But the most important to me is a place to live. I really don't want to be homeless. I am trying really hard to get work, but I keep spinning my wheels not moving anywhere fast. I feel awful asking for anything, especially with so many around me who have lost everything. We have made it through so much, we can make it through this. We just need a little help. Any funds received will go towards outstanding bills so we can get back on our feet. If you are able, we would be forever grateful for any assistance you can offer.