On April 9th, the storage unit containing nearly everything I own was destroyed in a fire. Inside that unit were replaceable things like furniture, electronics, shoes, clothes, kitchenwares, appliances, books, scripts, and scores. But also inside that unit, there were numerous irreplacable items like all of my official work and income documentation, a box full of hand-written love letters from my great grandmother's early life, my journals, scrap books of my travels, a box full of photos from my childhood, and nearly my entire collection of original paintings. All of these items are gone. But I'm still here, and I need your help to rise from the ashes.

I need a financial boost to get me back on my feet after this big blow. My creative work over the past few months has completely drained my accounts, and it seems the insurance policy for the storage unit will only reimburse me $1,000 (about 5% of the total value of my destroyed property). With your help, I can get started starting over.

Funds raised will help me secure basic living essentials like food and clothing while I figure out where to go from here. They will provide some security for reassembling my habitat when I'm able to land in a new living situation and will enable me to pick up where I left off in my creative endeavors. Above all, your contribution will give me some peace of mind, which frankly is more valuable in this situation than anything.

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for your contribution and generous support. Though this crisis made a hard end to one chapter of my life, it also created a new beginning, and at risk of sounding incredibly cheesy, I will rise from the ashes of this misfortune like a phoenix with you beneath my wings.