help tara survive unemployment part 2
As many of you know, the last two plus years haven't been easy for me. I lost one of my closest friends to suicide, then my job of 13 years, then nearly my life to a near-fatal asthma attack.
Since then, after working for months to try and get my digs back to liveable condition, a pipe burst inside the wall of my condo, that required all the floors and sections of drywall to be replaced, and everything I own being put into storage from September til January, while I couch-surfed. Then only weeks after ServPro returning 300+ boxes plus furniture, another pipe in the same location burst due to record low temps on Superbowl Sunday, and so everything was rearranged into two rooms yet again until repairs and repainting could continue.
After all the hard work with Operation Clean Sweep after I got out of the hospital, it was all undone in a week. I wanted to tell people, but I didn't know how to say 'hey everyone, thanks so much! but I had to start all over again.' It felt too big, and too overwhelming.
I've spent the months since unpacking, applying for jobs, freelancing as a designer at fringe-element.net , and trying to make ends meet by selling my fashion dolls and 1:6 scale collectables , and also doing odd jobs at the-odd-jobs.com. But the fact is, I have no sources of steady revenue and have been draining my savings and getting loans from family & friends.
Since April 2017, I've applied for hundreds of jobs, and only have two interviews in all that time. I've been suffering from depression and anxiety that has kept me house-bound for the most part, and trying desperately to keep my head above water. I closed my Patreon out of guilt at not posting monthly updates. I closed my etsy shop due to most of my stock being destroyed last April. However, I am hoping to relaunch both in July, as well as moving all of my tee-shirt, merch, and art print designs from zazzle and cafepress to a new redbubble shop . And for those of you who are fans of Seanan McGuire's October Daye series, Full of Briars prints are still available!
After all the kindness I've received, I am ashamed to ask for more. But I'm at the point where I am behind on bills, and my mortgage cheque bounced, and if I can't bring in at least $1600 a month to keep all the bills paid, food on the table, and a roof over my head, then my situation can and will only get worse unless and until I can find full-time employment. And that has been soul-crushingly difficult.
I've stayed on my meds, haven't even so much as vaped since April 2018, and brought Shadow (my fluffy rescue feral) home at the encouragement of my fabulous doctor whom I really need to see more often. But trying to pull myself out of the hole I'm in is exhausting. Just getting out of bed and trying to keep up with housework with a non-working vacuum, dozens of boxes and 30 gal bins still in need of unpacking and sorting, and a stack nearly blocking my front door of items that need to go into storage, and furniture that's been sold but hasn't moved out. Thanks to my family, tip jar, donations of cat food and litter, cat trees via an amazon wishlist, and kind donations of grocery money, I've made it this far.
But there's so much further I still need to go.
Once upon a time, my dream was to launch Fringe Element as a full-time design boutique, providing publication design, ebook conversion, cover design and illustration, publicity materials, copy-proofing, and editorial services for small publishers and self-publishing authors. I still haven't launched the website, because I know that right now I am not stable enough to try and launch a start-up, especially one that would require more employees than just myself alone.
Today I'm just trying to make it from day to day, week to week, month to month with no new crises constantly knocking me back down again. Any help you can provide would, as always, be hugely appreciated. Even more than donations, I am looking for steady work.
If you have freelance work for me, I'm cheap and easy! If you have full-time work of any kind that can be done remotely, contact me! And if you are in the city of Chicago and would gladly pay me to do anything from answer phones to water your plants, well... you know where to find me.
Please feel free to contact me for copies of my CV, corporate samples, and references. While I cannot drive, I do live in the city proper and if you are CTA/Metra available, I'd be a great addition to your team so long as you dig hardcore nerd girls with serious design chops who can do damned near anything, or learn to at the drop of a hat.
Since then, after working for months to try and get my digs back to liveable condition, a pipe burst inside the wall of my condo, that required all the floors and sections of drywall to be replaced, and everything I own being put into storage from September til January, while I couch-surfed. Then only weeks after ServPro returning 300+ boxes plus furniture, another pipe in the same location burst due to record low temps on Superbowl Sunday, and so everything was rearranged into two rooms yet again until repairs and repainting could continue.
After all the hard work with Operation Clean Sweep after I got out of the hospital, it was all undone in a week. I wanted to tell people, but I didn't know how to say 'hey everyone, thanks so much! but I had to start all over again.' It felt too big, and too overwhelming.
I've spent the months since unpacking, applying for jobs, freelancing as a designer at fringe-element.net , and trying to make ends meet by selling my fashion dolls and 1:6 scale collectables , and also doing odd jobs at the-odd-jobs.com. But the fact is, I have no sources of steady revenue and have been draining my savings and getting loans from family & friends.
Since April 2017, I've applied for hundreds of jobs, and only have two interviews in all that time. I've been suffering from depression and anxiety that has kept me house-bound for the most part, and trying desperately to keep my head above water. I closed my Patreon out of guilt at not posting monthly updates. I closed my etsy shop due to most of my stock being destroyed last April. However, I am hoping to relaunch both in July, as well as moving all of my tee-shirt, merch, and art print designs from zazzle and cafepress to a new redbubble shop . And for those of you who are fans of Seanan McGuire's October Daye series, Full of Briars prints are still available!
After all the kindness I've received, I am ashamed to ask for more. But I'm at the point where I am behind on bills, and my mortgage cheque bounced, and if I can't bring in at least $1600 a month to keep all the bills paid, food on the table, and a roof over my head, then my situation can and will only get worse unless and until I can find full-time employment. And that has been soul-crushingly difficult.
I've stayed on my meds, haven't even so much as vaped since April 2018, and brought Shadow (my fluffy rescue feral) home at the encouragement of my fabulous doctor whom I really need to see more often. But trying to pull myself out of the hole I'm in is exhausting. Just getting out of bed and trying to keep up with housework with a non-working vacuum, dozens of boxes and 30 gal bins still in need of unpacking and sorting, and a stack nearly blocking my front door of items that need to go into storage, and furniture that's been sold but hasn't moved out. Thanks to my family, tip jar, donations of cat food and litter, cat trees via an amazon wishlist, and kind donations of grocery money, I've made it this far.
But there's so much further I still need to go.
Once upon a time, my dream was to launch Fringe Element as a full-time design boutique, providing publication design, ebook conversion, cover design and illustration, publicity materials, copy-proofing, and editorial services for small publishers and self-publishing authors. I still haven't launched the website, because I know that right now I am not stable enough to try and launch a start-up, especially one that would require more employees than just myself alone.
Today I'm just trying to make it from day to day, week to week, month to month with no new crises constantly knocking me back down again. Any help you can provide would, as always, be hugely appreciated. Even more than donations, I am looking for steady work.
If you have freelance work for me, I'm cheap and easy! If you have full-time work of any kind that can be done remotely, contact me! And if you are in the city of Chicago and would gladly pay me to do anything from answer phones to water your plants, well... you know where to find me.
Please feel free to contact me for copies of my CV, corporate samples, and references. While I cannot drive, I do live in the city proper and if you are CTA/Metra available, I'd be a great addition to your team so long as you dig hardcore nerd girls with serious design chops who can do damned near anything, or learn to at the drop of a hat.
Organizer
Tara O'Shea
Organizer
Chicago, IL