USS Icarus Requesting Assistance

We are The Icarus Collective, an autistic-spectrum genderqueer multiple system. We are seeking urgent assistance with funds for overdue rent, and ongoing food costs.

We have been almost entirely socially isolated for years, due to the challenges of coming out as multiple and as genderqueer, and due to our own natural introversion. The social support systems and relationships that existed before, for the one of us that lived in this brain before the rest of us showed up in here, have mostly atrophied and fallen by the wayside, as we focused on finding our own new way of living as the human we are now.

On August 14th, we received a 30-day pay-rent-or-vacate notice from the landlord of our studio apartment. At that point, we almost made the decision to just leave this world behind for good. It turned out in the moment, however, that it was harder for us to say goodbye to this world than we thought it would be. Given that, we decided to let this inflection point serve as a wake-up call, and recommit to connecting socially with this world we find ourselves in.

To do so, we'll have to do two things, both of which come down to sharing more openly and publicly what's going on with us. The first step is this one, opening up about our current financial situation and challenges, and asking for help. Our income from Social Security Disability Insurance falls short of covering our basic monthly expenses at this point, and the supplemental assistance we relied on for a while from what was left of our social support system has been overtaxed, to the point that more assistance is urgently called for. We're currently setting a goal of $1500 for this fundraiser, to help us get back on top of things.

The other important task before us is to reach out for social support, and cultivate a new support network that can help us re-integrate into society as the complicated human that we are now. We have to re-learn how to socially interact with other humans again, in a way that honors who and what we are. To that end, we're going to write a new entry for our long-dormant Dreamwidth blog, that we'd abandoned some years ago due to a combination of writer's block and low readership engagement, and find a way to communicate about ourselves more clearly, concisely, and engagingly. We'll be posting a link to our new entry there when it's up.

The only way forward for us in this world is to find ways to participate in community and society as the collective entity that we are, and to seek support when and where it's called for. We look forward to finding ways to pleasantly and productively engage with you all. Thank you for your time and attention to our words. Best wishes and blessings to you all.