Help Fox get out of Arkansas

Hi!

My name is Fox, I am a 23yo fox + coyote therian, and a trans woman. I made the Nonhuman Unity Flag, and do community organization such as panels, zines, gatherings, and more. I live in Rogers, Arkansas- I have lived here all of my life and the Ozarks are very much my home. Due to the tornados and other growing concerns, I no longer feel safe here. I am asking for help funding a move to Seattle.

This place has taught me so much about how to be an animal and live as such, however it is becoming increasingly unsafe for me to live here for several reasons.

About 50-75% of my town has been developed in the time that I've lived here, and a lot of that has taken away green spaces and other animal habitats that I have lived in. I have seen so many forests and hills levelled completely, where I had once seen sustained levels of wildlife. A lot of what has been happening with development is making its way out towards where I live, which is already fairly rural, and a lot of my neighbors are AirBNBs- the motel up the road was recently bought out and turned into bnb's, per room. i knew people that were living there long-term that now cannot afford it. I considered this my home largely because of how intwined it was with the nature around it, but that's slipping away.

Adding to this, the second largest tornado this state has seen ripped through a massive amount of my town and levelled a lot of the only things that I really had left here. Restaurants, schools, flea markets, and much much more were destroyed and I was without power for a week, and could not live in my house. This was only one of several tornados that hit the area around us. This town is still destroyed and it has changed my life here.

I cannot present as myself in my day-to-day life because it is genuinely a risk. I frequently have to drive to places like Harrison, Arkansas or adjacent and present a person that is not me to get in, get the job done, and get out, and there is such a massive disconnect between how I openly present in cities that are more queer friendly than I do here- only one job I've had has gendered me correctly, and asking customers or strangers to gender me correctly, or even mentioning the concept is actively dangerous.

I have worked almost every repair job in the area, and I am employed in a different state at this point because of such. Only my direct supervisor calls me Fox, because I was aware he knew trans people before telling him- he's told me asking our boss to do so, or to change my name within systems, would probably not go well.

My roommates are both moving and I wasn't entirely sure if this was going to be the case until about ~4 months ago so I have not had solid plans on what was actually going to happen until the past couple of weeks. I do not have enough money to move a lot of my things, and I'm gonna have to sell a lot.

you can imagine how all of this has affected my mental health I think

These are just some of the reasons I really do not feel safe here. It's scary being here as I continue to see what's going on in politics and knowing that this place will be potentially less livable fairly soon, and getting stuck here is a massive weight.

I will be moving to Seattle- this is not something I would have asked for help for to begin with and I kind of considered it an "endgame" move, after being somewhere else for a few years. Being able to move here would put me somewhere where I can grow, have stable job opportunities, and present as myself fully.

I have received a massively generous housing offer from someone that would allow me to have stability to look for an apartment with Kai, and not be rushed into other situations where I might not have a stable, ideal, or sustainable living situation. I am extremely grateful for the amount of help I have gotten from the community at large and to everyone who has offered me some sort of arrangement, I rly rly appreciate it.

This would finally let me do nonhuman community organization for in-person stuff- I have hosted panels, zines, room parties, and helped with howls and online cons and more. I have desperately wanted to organize a howl (gathering of therians) but haven't had the area or amount of critters to do so successfully, without it being small. There's also other meetups and stuff I would LOVE to be able to do, I am still brainstorming a lot.

Ultimately if I need to move with as little as possible, I will, this is mostly for my safety, but I am raising money so that I can move and keep as much of my stuff as possible. This money would allow me to:

-Rent a pod, trailer, or similar

-Ship my van on a trailer containing a lot of essentials for camping meets, and give me the ability to pack a lot more of my belongings

-Drive to Seattle

-Help cover securing costs for an apartment in Seattle

This money will change my life completely, as I have never been able to come home and be the same person I am when I'm in places that allow me to be myself. If you are able to spare anything, I would really appreciate it.

if you see this elsewhere and want to reach me, I am @foxbrained on Twitter and Telegram