Claire's Emergency Moving Fund

Note: Please keep in mind that GoFundMe takes $0.30 + 2.9% of each donation. I feel this is important to disclose because I've donated to many campaigns without even realizing this, and I want to make sure anyone who is kind enough to help me out knows that they're also putting a not-insignificant amount of money into GoFundMe's pocket. You can donate via The Application Of Cash (using codename because GFM adds a nasty little note if you try to suggest other avenues of support). My name on there is BeautyBot (with a $ in front of it).

Howdy, friends.

This is easily the most embarrassing thing I've ever had to do, but it is what it is. At the end of October, I ended a 9-year relationship with my fiancé. Things had been rough for a while, but I'd hoped to be able to make it through the end of our lease in April. Current circumstances have made that plan both untenable and unsafe. I need to leave now. I work from home, we share a one-room (that's one room, not one bedroom) apartment in Kentucky, and for the last 2.5 years, I have supported myself, my cat, my partner, his cat, and his elderly dog entirely on my own, all on a single freelance income. I have bought the gas/paid for repairs for a car I don't drive, covered vet care and pet food for pets I do not own, and paid the entirety of the rent, electricity/gas, and internet bills alone for years. It has destroyed me physically, emotionally, and financially. A year ago, my partner agreed to become financially independent and get a job so that by the end of 2023, we could afford to split up and go our separate ways if we still wanted to. Now the end of 2023 is here, and he has not followed through. All attempts to get him to do so have been fruitless, and now I am out of time. Worse, the situation has gone from "I might want to leave" to "I absolutely need to leave."

Near the end of September, something happened that made it clear I needed to leave immediately for the sake of both my safety and my sanity. I have plans to move in with my best friends (and former college roommates), who were recently told they have to move as the building they live in has been purchased and all tenants on a month-to-month lease are required to be out by January. We've found a lovely apartment where I will be paying a fraction of what I pay here and living in a much nicer building in a better part of town. Unfortunately, getting myself out of here is proving to be a struggle.

Though my ex-partner has agreed to remove my name from the lease, that cannot be done unless he proves he can afford to take over the rent. Obviously, having no job, that is not something he can do. My only other choice is to break the lease and pay the entirety of the remaining rent for this lease ($680/mo for January - April = $2,720). Due to the fact that I've been supporting an entire household on a freelance income for nearly 3 years, I have absolutely no savings. I cannot even afford to purchase the cardboard boxes I need to pack my things. On top of that, as a freelancer, December is usually the month where I make the least amount of money, because I obviously cannot work during the fairly long break we have for the winter holidays.

Again, I want to emphasize that this is a safety issue, not simply an "I don't like you anymore and I don't want to live here" situation. I cannot stay here safely anymore. I work from home, have no car, and spend 24 hours a day cooped up in a room with someone who is, to put it as diplomatically as I can, experiencing a mental health crisis. On top of that, the building itself is not safe. In October, a new tenant was mugged in the parking lot. Three days after that, my ex's car was broken into and rendered un-driveable after a failed attempt at IRL GTA resulted in a broken steering column (meaning my ex also cannot leave the house often--we are stuck in one room together at all times). Last night, I chased someone away from another tenant's car. I am not safe in this relationship or in this building.

(WTF is even is this shower frame?)

(Not pictured: Wooden wall below fake tile on upper half of shower wall.)

(This is the moldy vent located right over my bed. Has been reported to maintenance multiple times. Was asked if I could "just wipe it off.")

There is mold growing through the drywall and vents in various places, and my shower frame is constructed from PVC pipe and two shower curtains pinned together against a wooden wall that is, of course, rotting. There's no paint on most of the walls. The insulation is so poor I pay $300 a month in utilities to heat/cool this tiny, one-room unit. It's a nightmare, and attempts to get things fixed have fallen on deaf ears. Y'all ever seen Fight Club? Yeah, I live in the Paper Street House:

Originally, the unit was $545 a month and we had permission to do repairs. But we've now been through 3 landlords in 4 years, and the current property management company is extremely litigious and pretty damn slimy in general. Tenant repairs are no longer allowed, and we are charged as much rent as the renovated units despite our unit being entirely unfinished. If I had time and money, I'd deal with this in court. Unfortunately, I have neither.

(Similar to the tenant above, they left us AC-less in a triple-digit heat wave last summer and only came out with a window unit after four days when I cited the law requiring they keep apartments within a certain temperature range. It was 102°F inside my apartment by the time they installed it. Even with the AC fixed, the thermostat will read 85°F when it's set to 69°F because the insulation is that bad. I spent four days working via hotspot from my ex's car with the AC blasting and all three pets in the back seat to keep them from overheating. This cost me hundreds in gasoline money.)

(It appears they've been trying to fix their public image--recent reviews are MUCH more positive, but interestingly, many of the folks writing them share last names with employees who work in the leasing office. Go back a year and almost every review looks like this one. They have served 3 of 4 current building tenants with eviction notices in the past due to the property management company's own payment processing issues. I've been lucky enough to avoid this so far, and I'd like to gtfo before they try it on me.)

If I do not move now and wait until the lease ends on April 30th, I will have missed out on my only chance to split rent with roommates. I honestly do not know where I will go or how I will afford it if I have to move by myself in April when the lease is up rather than moving in with friends now because, as previously stated, my savings are nonexistent after years of caring for another person and their pets. Neither of my parents have a place where I can stay, I have no siblings, and my family isn't that tight-knit to begin with. "Hey, I seriously need help leaving a dangerous relationship/living situation," is met with "Damn. Good luck!!! [insert kissy face emoji]"

$3,000 is, honestly, the lower end of what I really need--it just covers the lease, not the additional costs of moving into a new place, moving boxes, renting a U-Haul, deposits, etc. But it's the bare minimum I need to escape this lease, this awful building, and my ex-partner. Reaching $4,000 would make the transition far, far smoother, but I already feel guilty for needing this much help to begin with. Funds will be used to get the hell out of this lease and purchase moving necessities (boxes, U-Haul). Anything left over will go to replacing shared items I will no longer have access to (cookware, vacuum, etc.) and generally trying to rebuild my life.

Rest assured that by the time I come to the internet for help, all other means of assistance have been thoroughly exhausted. I would not be on here embarrassing myself in front of the world if there were any other option. I am on food stamps and Medicaid. I have applied for every assistance program under the sun. I am constantly applying for additional work. I do not qualify for any loans that are not extremely predatory with interest rates through the roof that I could never repay on my current income. I am out of options, and I need help.

Any amount--no matter how small--makes a difference. If you can't afford to help out, sharing the link to this fundraiser is just as helpful. The heartbreak of having to end a nearly decade-long relationship with someone I thought I was going to marry sucks enough as it is, especially given the truly awful circumstances of said breakup. The fact that I'm "free" yet legitimately cannot afford to escape is just the sh*t-icing on the sh*t-cake, as Jim Lahey would say.

All I want this Christmas is peace, safety, and somewhere to call home that doesn't put me in constant danger. Thank you in advance, friends. I'm doing my best here.

Gratefully yours,

Claire

P.S. If you're reading this and are also having a nightmare of a year, here's a song to cheer you up. Keeps me going on the bad days, which are pretty frequent lately:

Love y'all. <3