Help Ariel rebuild her life after losing her home

Hello everyone,

My name's Ariel, and I'm fundraising to help rebuild my life after months of financial manipulation, domestic violence, hate crimes, police misconduct, and workplace discrimination. I have no family, my best friends are scarcely better off than I am, and have no more to spare.

I've been discriminated against by the State of Washington, and my home and property (including physical assets) have been unjustly withheld as a result. I reported being assaulted in my own home and was instead falsely arrested for responding non-violently and in self-defense.

Police repeatedly withheld evidence in my favor, denied me appropriate medical care, and slurred me. I've exhausted all of my savings defending myself and trying to return home. Now, I'm under-housed, starved, and can't meet my basic self-care needs, or my many healthcare needs.

I'm trying to manage long COVID symptoms and have ongoing PTSD from being assaulted multiple times in the last year. I suffered head trauma during the last incident and received a referral to a neurologist to perform a brain scan to test for lasting damage. For financial and logistical reasons, I still haven't been able to receive this scan.

I used to have a nice apartment and things. What you see in the cover photo is nearly all I have left now: an acoustic guitar with old, broken strings. I also have a laptop, a phone, and a suitcase full of old clothes. A neighbor was kind enough to loan me an air mattress so that I don't have to sleep on the floor anymore. I've been eating at most 1 meal a day for months.

I had a hard childhood, so poverty isn't new to me. I grew up dirt poor and cared for my sick mom while we lived on food stamps. I've worked regularly since I was 12 years old: catering, cleaning floors, hanging wallpaper, chopping wood, and working retail. I never had the opportunity to finish college because I had to work to care for others.

From those humble beginnings, I built a successful career as a software engineer, artist, entrepreneur, and investor. I work hard, maintain relationships with faithful collectors of my art, diversify my income to the best of my ability, and regularly outperform market returns when I have the money to invest.

I came from nothing and achieved the American Dream without help from my family, without a college degree, and without once compromising my integrity. I made a better life for myself and gave back generously to everyone around me, including strangers.

Because of who I am, the State of Washington has allowed me to suffer discrimination at the hands of its police and excused a hate crime without investigation. Their actions have further compromised my deteriorating health and ruined me financially.

In the wake of all this devastation, I was able to find the best-paying job of my life working as a freelance software engineer. I was incredibly excited until I was repeatedly slurred there as well. Eventually, they manufactured an excuse to renege on our contract against its explicit terms, by switching to a more automated platform, which I was equally qualified to manage.

Since then, I've focused on making a living from my art because it's paid more than freelancing lately, and my collectors treat me with respect. The art market is volatile though, new full-time and freelance jobs are scant right now because of layoffs, and I still face an uphill battle due to discrimination.

I don't want to have to ask you for donations, but I'm desperate and this is my last resort. I wanted folks to invest in my art so that I could give them something in return, but my sales aren't enough to sustain me and keep me fed at this time. I need your support right now.

With your help, I can eat regularly, buy necessities like toothpaste, repair my car and renew its insurance, keep a roof over my head, afford to keep my utilities and phone on, receive a brain scan, and prevent my credit cards from being canceled. At this moment, I don't even have the money to eat. Please donate what you can to help, so that I can rebuild and pay it forward again in the future.

Thank you kindly for your time, attention, and donations.

Much love and be well.

Your friend,

~ Ariel