Help Destiny Finish Her Last Semester At Howard

Peace Yall, my name is Destiny Harris and I am a black, queer, low income artist and organizer from the west side of Chicago. I attend Howard University in DC majoring in Sociology with the hope of becoming a teacher within Chicago Public Schools to offsets the detriments of systemic oppression and trauma Black and brown youth have to face with the education system. I am on track to graduate may 2023, however I still have to overcome financial burden.I am the oldest of seven, first generation college student in my entire family. It is rare that people from where I come from (severly impoverished Austin community on the west side of Chicago) get to attend college without financial burden. We come from the part of the city that is ignored strategically by elected officials because it is predominantly black and poor. I come from a community void of resources. Void of resourced schools, affordable public housing, void of access to healthy food and employment. Despite organizing against these issues for the past 7 years I have faced the same issues here in DC. It is very hard to not crumble alongside the systems we are trying to tear down. Last semester I was homeless and couch surfing through Airbnb’s to survive, as I was forced to break my lease to escape a domestic abuse situation. My mental health took a drastic decline, I battled depression, suicidal thoughts, addiction among other things, but I was able to make it through. This semester I am regaining my life back and it is my last semester at Howard, however I still have a balance to clear, graduation fees to pay, book and subscription costs, the need for a new computer, transportation costs to and from campus, and some cushion to support housing for me, as the housing I was able to secure relatively close to campus and work is $1200 a month and out of my budget. I spent over 4K in savings that I had worked hard to save up through working 120+ hours a week over the summer to be able to afford living in an Airbnb and prevent me from living on the streets. Since I am a full time student and I do run a small business (@dipsandcoils) I am unable to work full time making it hard to afford my rent plus basic life necessities like food. In addition to that I will be moving back home to chicago in June and it is almost impossible to save money for the move and to secure an apartment and pay rent at my current apartment now. All funds will set me up for success to ensure that I can complete my last semester, obtain my degree and continue to give back to my community. I appreciate all the love, and support I’ve received from my Howard community in the past and I am grateful for whatever I receive, even if it’s just a share or repost. If you want to support my small business my IG is @dipsandcoils. To find more of my poetry work, reference the account linked in bio

other ways to donate:

venmo/ cashapp: @/$ ddharris1209

paypal: dipsandcoils

zelle: [email redacted]