[Fundraiser image: selfie of Sugar smiling in taupe lipstick and
their red button-down uniform]
Hello friends, your favorite writer, activist, and dildo-slinger
Sugar here, back at it again with the struggling-to-survive boogaloo.
tl;dr
- My partners are still job hunting.
- I've been looking for a second, work-from-home job and trying to up my freelance work, but my mental and physical health are really suffering this month in these circumstances, so I spend most of my trying not to go to the BHU.
- Since I'm still the only earner, I just can't commit to an inpatient stay when we don't have rent covered and they don't have a way to make money without me.
The Story So Far...
In October, my homeless GF moved out of an abusive and unstable situation in GA to join us, with the plan being that she'd take over my roommate's part of the rent.
Back in November, we discovered that we didn't meet our apartment's
income requirement, especially since NP still hadn't gotten a job, and
NGF was still looking in our old neighborhood.
We had to crash-fundraise to get together money to keep us in a
motel and cover deposit + first + last and food while we waited for
our EBT card to come back. I am so grateful we didn't end up sleeping
outside at the end of November, even if the motel we stayed in for a
week ripped us off for a night's stay (which no, I've not had time to
dispute, still, ugh)
In Dec I had to fundraise again so we could pay January's rent.
Since we finally have a regular place to stay and an address now, my
partners told me they began their job hunting. However, it's past
January 15th now, and neither of them have heard back from any jobs yet.
Meanwhile, this month my part-time job working in sex toy retail
got cut back to 5 hours a week for the month of January, and I'm paid
to minimum wage, so I get about $55 a week to go toward rent this month.
But I also missed my shift yesterday, because suicidality and
intensely cold weather both sent my fibromyalgia into overdrive.
I'm acutely aware that between my hours being cut because of a
low sales average and my body screwing me over in the winter, keeping
this job isn't going to be easy. I like it when I'm physically able to
do it, but I'm in too much pain on a daily basis and have to spend too
many days recovering after a shift to increase my work schedule or to
keep doing this for a long time.
My hunt for a second, work-from-home job option hasn't been
going super well, mostly because I keep getting distracted from
searching by dealing with everyone else's stuff, or I have to sit
under my blankets in my room to fight off the onset of panic and
suicidality after I do it.
It would be incredibly helpful for us if y'all could donate and share
to help us keep sleeping indoors. We finally got our replacement EBT
card, so now at least I won't have to spend money from the rent fund
whenever we need food.
I've been trying to do everything I can to facilitate my
partners getting jobs, as well as taking care of the house behind them
(one moreso than the other), and so far there are no employment
results, which is deeply frustrating, especially because the stress of
doing this every month is extremely bad for me.
I also can't go to inpatient since I need to be home to raise
this money - you know, to have a home to come home to when I get
released from the hospital.
NP says they've put in multiple job applications to several
places around town and haven't received a single call back despite
spending years working management at the grocery store. NGF has been
scouting out kitchen jobs, since she's got experience there and says
bottom-of-the-ladder kitchen jobs are supposed to be easy to get. I
keep trying to get the two of them to team up and go walk dogs with
some dog-walking apps (NP's phone has no service currently), but no
dogs are getting walked.
Meanwhile, aside from trying to juggle their job situations and
clean up after everyone around the house, I've been planning to boost
my writing and porn hustle to try and raise all this money since I
don't have a second regular gig, but I've barely got the energy (and
absence of pain, thanks fibro) to leave the bed or even communicate
with the outside world lately.
Your support would mean the world to us. I'm trying so hard
not to blow this.
