This fundraiser is dedicated to helping two loved ones very close to me, Robin and Charisma, who are dealing with serious financial hardship. As a result they are experiencing housing instability, lack of access to health care, and food insecurity. Please consider supporting Charisma and Robin during this difficult time! if you would like to learn more about their story, both parties have shared their experiences in their own words below.

My name is Charisma! I am a black & trans bay area native hoping to raise funds for myself and my loved one Robin with the aim of covering housing costs and providing financial stability for the both of us. I have lived in the Bay all my life, have been deeply a part of the local queer/trans community as well as the underground art scene (some may know me as The Queenby in the bay area zine community) for half a decade. I currently work as a bookseller in SF, a art collective member at Bay Made in Oakland, and I also make zines, comics, and more at various zine fests and art markets. Plus, I am a community organizer that helps run the BIPOC Transfeminine meet up group “Melanin and Estrogen”, a safe space for folks like me to meet, make art, meet others in the BIPOC trans community, and also get a little bit of mutual aid through a small fund I started with some friends outside of the group.

Earlier this year my roommate/best friend of several years moved in with my past abuser with the knowledge of their behaviors and did so behind my back leaving me isolated in our apartment when my mental health was at an extremely low point due to a variety of factors. After learning of his deception, compounded by him getting swiftly fired, I had no choice but to move out. While I was able to find a place relatively quickly out of pure luck thanks to a friend, the suddenness of it financially destroyed me due to moving costs and also not having any savings to properly fund the move. While I got a bit of help here and there (including a small loan during my move) from some friends, I’ve had to support myself financially for years as I have no savings or other source of emergency funds to fall back on. Oftentimes relying on commissions, art markets, or mutual aid to get by if I am unable to meet my needs. I am also in a lot of debt to Wells Fargo (debt racked up from when I was forced to quit Hot Cookie in 2023 due to sexual abuse and racist behavior, I now owe my bank around $1300), the IRS (I owe around $700), my roommate who is moving out (around $300 for helping pay for first month rent when moving in). My deposit from my old place went towards paying back a friend who helped me move and other moving expenses that the old roommate never helped to chip in for. That plus bills (around $266 for water, PG&E, phone, internet, etc.), rent ($670), groceries, etc has left me living paycheck to paycheck and hard to get any stable footing which also resulted in me having to quit therapy due to not being able to afford it anymore. Thankfully due to one of my roommate’s moving out suddenly, I am working on getting Robin plus another roommate (in total there would be 4 of us in our 3 bedroom apartment) moved in which would both house Robin (which she will explain her situation in the next paragraph) and reduce all of our costs living together. I plan to use my portion of funds to pay off all of my debt (In total is close to $2,700). Any extra that comes in will go towards utilities, rent, savings, therapy/regaining healthcare and my BIPOC transfeminine meet up group Melanin & Estrogen. I will post updates on our situation as time goes on.

Hi, my name is Robin Oliva. I’m a disabled transfemme artist based in Oakland who has been making queer art for eleven years under the name DiscoMelon. I have spent much of my adult life homeless and during the height of the pandemic and again the last half of 2022 I survived multiple unsafe living situations and sexual assaults. These all have left me with a growing number of physical and neurological disabilities that led to the destruction of my career and left me financially dependent on an unstable relationship and home both of which I was forced to flee this summer for my own safety. It is extremely difficult now for me to function socially, struggling even while homeless to ask for help from my community and open up to those close to me about my well-being or what I went through. Since leaving my time has been spent; couch surfing, subletting, trying to find a home, finding work that I can handle with my disabilities, recovering from an emergency wisdom tooth extraction and resulting case of dry socket, and rebuilding my life and career from square one. My current housing will end on the 15th of December but now with Charisma I have an opportunity for long term housing ahead of me and I need assistance to bridge the gap. My portion of this would be toward covering my first two month’s rent, utilities, and deposit ($1900~), cost of personal care items(soap, toothpaste, shaving supplies, etc) and groceries while I reapply for calfresh ($300~), furniture and bedding (mattress, dresser, sheets etc) ($1000~), costs of moving (such as gas and transportation), and securing my own financial stability while I rebuild my income, credit, health, and independence. Any extra would go toward covering medical supplies as well as transportation and post operative expenses for an upcoming gender affirming surgery. I was able to make it this far because of Charisma and the rest of my community and for that I cannot express my gratitude enough. Now with your help we could both have a chance at a fresh start, as she will summarize below.

Due to how close we are (as well as the nature of our situations), Robin and I decided to come together and do this gofundme. Robin and I have known each other now for almost two years, having met in the backyard of my best friend’s birthday party. We have grown extremely close over the year and a half we have known each other, having numerous hangouts, crying on the other’s shoulder and more. Having been hurt by the same folks, I immediately jumped to help house Robin throughout her current situation. In addition to helping care for her after a recent surgery she had, we provided the other mutual emotional support as we both ground from our respective situations. Due to one of my roommates suddenly moving out in the middle of all of this, our situations helix-ed into one as by having her move in would not only of course fix her housing dilemma, but again will fix my own housing dilemma, reduce costs for us across the board, and help us start a new chapter. We set the goal for $10k so that way we both get roughly 5k+ each. Deposits will be split down the middle as they come in and go towards our respective and mutual goals. Mutually we will also use funds towards any housing expenses (deposit, rent, etc), furniture, etc. for our apartment and again will post updates across the weeks.