Help my best friend escape homelessness and secure a rental
Donation protected
*Pictured is me left and my best friend right, faces hidden due to privacy.*
Hello everyone, my name is Aaron, or how most people may know me online as “Corgi Taco” and I am creating this GoFundMe on my best friend’s behalf as he’s currently facing homelessness.
A little more about me before I continue, I am a Minecraft modder who’s made Minecraft mods for the past 5 years including notable mods such as “Oh The Biomes You’ll Go” and “Enhanced Celestials”.
Why?
I am here writing this story on behalf of my best friend who was just made homeless on August 8, 2024, escaping a toxic living situation with a so-called “friend” and that “friend”’s boyfriend. The extent of this toxic situation was he was paying rent and contributing to bills but was not allowed to use any household amenities such as the kitchen(no oven, no microwave, no fridge, no pantry) and laundry(he would have to Uber to and from the laundromat to get his clothes washed instead of using the one provided the rental). Due to the expenses of the toxic situation, especially the expenses of Uber, my best friend was only eating 1-3x a week when he went to work buying food at his job with his employee discount. He’s always basically sat at a near-negative balance consistently while living with them. And before you ask, I have met him in real life on 2 trips to Australia, he is a real person I've physically met.
Here's a screenshot of his recent bank transactions where you can see Uber tanking his bank balance:
- Uber is the largest bank account draining here there are far more transactions but this is just some insight into how bad it is.
Why am I writing this?
Due to the people in my best friend’s life including his own family and this “friend”,
I will be writing my best friend’s story on his behalf to protect his identity and for his safety.
How we got to these circumstances
To keep it short, my best friend was living with his older brother before living with this “friend” but his own older brother was also prohibiting the usage of basic household amenities as well as the older brother’s partner consistently gave him a hard time about having to move out and to stop ordering outside food. This is insane because his brother would not allow him to make food at home or store food in the kitchen. At the time he and his “friend” were best friends and it seemed like a brilliant move.
You can read my best friend's first-hand recount of the situation here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E2Gitp4qDXJVp_t2V9wvt-KTLHrAEP_4/view?usp=sharing.
Current Situation
At this very moment today August 11, 2024, my best friend has been living between Airbnbs in the state of Queensland, Australia with a $1000 USD I’ve sent by me as well as a $1200 USD worth of donations sent by users in my discord community on August 7, 2024, bringing the total amount in his bank account to around $2200 USD / $2800 AUD. Unfortunately, this is not sufficient enough to get him housed and stable with food to eat, this is only sufficient enough for the short term. He does have a “casual”/”part-time” job at a local fast-food restaurant.
Alternatives
My best friend unfortunately has physically and psychologically abusive parents who’ve been in and out of jail. He has no extended or immediate family members available or willing to house him at this time. As for his friends/coworkers, they all live with their parents and their parents are unwilling to house him.
What will these funds be used for?
The total funds needed will be a total(assuming all high ends of ranges listed below) of $12520 AUD or $8,231.90 USD. For this campaign, the ever-changing exchange rate, and to cover bank transfer fees, the goal for this campaign will be set at $8500 USD. USD because that is my local currency.
The fundraising goal aims to cover 2 months assuming the new job does not work out due to current circumstances making it difficult even to do the required hours set out by his contract at the new job.
The excess funds goal to get my friend driving school(required by Queensland law for a learner’s license) and his first car is a total of $30,000 AUD or $20,000 USD.
Funds will be sent from my bank account to his bank account via Wise
*Conversions from AUD to USD were rounded up to take into account possible exchange rate changes, feel free to check the exchange rate from AUD values listed here to USD.*
1. Live in Airbnbs - Until mid-October.
- $3500($2310 USD) - $4500 AUD (2970 USD)
- Airbnb prices nearby:
2. Transport.
- 3300 AUD ($2,200 USD) for an average of 11 weeks x 3 round trips/6 Ubers a week to and from work + market.
- Most of the time he rides with Uber since he has a physical disability in his legs that prevents him from walking long distances to bus/train stops.
- Transport can be expensive for <10min trip ranging anywhere from $15 AUD($10 USD) - $30 AUD($20 AUD) each way.
- Will cover: Going to work, going to market, going to a laundromat, and any other essentials.
- This is by far the most expensive factor of everything listed here.
- Here’s a recent Uber receipt from last night for a 10-minute drive from his work back to the Airbnb:
- Here's another Uber for a 7 minute drive early this morning taking his stuff to storage:
- As you can see the price of Uber is outrageous and in the long term unsustainable but my best friend has no other choice due to: No friends available to transport him, his physical disability, and the AirBnbs he's currently being a long walk from a bus stop (over 1-2km of walking to make it to a bus stop).
3. Food
- 1200 AUD ($790 USD)
- So he is not consistently malnourished like he’s been for the past 3 months eating <3x a week.
4. Storage Unit
- 220 AUD($150 USD) to cover the cost of the unit in its entirety(including what’s been paid today + 1 month) for 3 months.
- He’s currently renting out a Storage unit and will need to for at least 3 months assuming he gets a rental in 3 months time:
4. The bond/security deposit and first 2 weeks for a rental.
- $2400 AUD($1590 USD) - 3300 AUD($2180 USD) will be due upfront for a rental.
- Most rentals where he lives currently are in the range of $400 AUD($270 USD) - $550 AUD($370 USD) per week, not per month.
- Security deposit/bond is typically 4x the weekly rent/1 month's worth of rent so we’re looking at about $1600 AUD($1060 USD) - $2200 AUD($1460 USD).
- In addition to the bond, he will need to pay for 2 weeks worth of rent upfront so that’s around $800 AUD($530 USD) - $1100 AUD($730 USD).
What will any additional/excess funds be used for?
1. Driving School - Get his Learner’s license.
- This is to break the cycle and pay sink that is Uber since my best friend cannot easily walk to bus/train stops due to his physical disability.
- Probably looking at least $6.9K AUD(($4,536 USD) - $10K AUD($6600 USD)
- QLD Australia requires at least 100 hours to be logged in a logbook by someone over the age of 18 AND with an Open License for at least a year.
- My friend does not know anyone willing to teach him that holds the requirements needed to teach him.
2. Getting his first car
Why does he need these funds?
- He needs to be working his new job for a minimum of 2 months to acquire the required paystubs/payslips proving he has sufficient income to live in a rental.
- He will not have the 2nd paystub/payslip required by real estate agents as proof of income until the 3rd week of October so he will need to live in Airbnb until then.
- His current job at the fast food place is “casual” / “part-time” and only gives him anywhere from 14 - 17 hours a week at minimum wage which is just impossible to get by considering the price of transport. It leaves him with no savings or money for food.
- His New job pays sufficiently to get by but only pays in monthly cycles, unfortunately. He will not see his first decent paycheck until mid-September.
I've done everything I can but I can no longer help due to my own bank balance:
Sending him that $1000 to not have him homeless was a decision I will never regret.
Thank you for reading this and I hope you can share this page.
If you have any questions related to this fundraiser please don't be afraid to reach out with GoFundMe's messaging feature(apparently that exists? couldn't put an e-mail) or on my Twitter: https://twitter.com/CorgiTaco
Organizer
Aaron M
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA