Help River Stabilize
Donation protected
Hi beloveds - both known and unknown -
It's been a while since I've been on the inter webs truly, and for that I am both deeply sorry, wishing y'all well and hoping ultimately in me putting this out there I can begin to move towards truly breaking this cycle of overwhelm and being constantly pulled into survival mode once and for all in a sense..
For those, who don't know me thank you for taking the time to sit with this.. My name is akua/ also known as aqua or river (they/he/love) & I am a queer third gender/transmasculine Ayitian, first generation American/French cultural worker, musician, baby filmmaker, sometimes DJ, sometimes NADA ear acupuncturist.
I am largely writing & creating this to ask community & those that are able to spare to help me end a cycle that has lasted for almost a year of being insecurely housed - In the last year I have by and large been staying with kind friends - both new and old, temporarily, as well as with my family for short periods of time, I'm deeply grateful for friends that have been kind enough open up their homes & share space with me even if it’s for a night during this time & also I know that ultimately I can not keep going on like this... I putting out this ask to help me to move closer to my goal of finding a sense of stability in these trying times and because truly I don't know what else to do. I'm hoping with creating this fund that I can also have more time to focus on longer term solutions to having a place to land, finding steady income & moving beyond the needs of own immediate surroundings & constant pull into having to figure out how survive.
CURRENT FOCUS:
** As of now, I’m hoping to fundraise enough to be able to secure housing in NYC for the summer so I can get access to health care services I've been signed up for the past year, but that I haven't been able to have access too due to not being there - including mental & dental health services, along with gender affirming care...something I’ve greatly been hoping to get access to for a while now.
In addition to the general pressing need go find housing - & Starting the first week of May, I have to opportunity to attend a 3 month long Biotech program, that I’ve been accepted into (which I’ve applied to maybe multiple times in spanning across the last few years, and finally have gotten into <3). This program would help me into moving closer to a dream of merging a practice of art & science, allowing me to apply for further schooling, and to ultimately gain a new skill set & potential access to a field of work & professional develop that has felt inaccessible to me as someone without a background in science previously. During these 3 months, along with getting an opportunity to move closer to professional development, I’d be focusing on a project that helps me learn the process of bioremediation - a skill set I’ve been dreaming.
**If I am not able to make the course however in time due to unsuccessfully being able to find or fundraisers to find housing in NYC for the 1st of May for in NYC then the funds would still go towards securing housing and getting by, as the need for that still stands no matter where I am at this moment **
I am also fundraising for a vehicle, to be able to move closer to accessing different types of work wherever I am- ideally more land based jobs, along with being access more safely doing the kind of work I’ve already been doing ($w to survive). This car would also double as an emergency back up for housing anywhere I go & to be able to go meet the desire & need of having to go back & forth between FL & wherever I am (for loved ones & family care & support, to help me move things along, show up differently in community & potentially even move back depending even).
I’ve been navigating life here without a car, for the past three years, and have increasing it has felt difficult to show up to gigs & navigate in all the places I’ve lived/have loved ones without one…
Truly again, thank you for taking the time & More info below
FUNDRAISING BREAKDOWN
Most Pressing -
Storage unit at risk for auction, Laptop repair, replacement ID/license - $350
To secure Housing ASAP - $1850
Miscellaneous living expenses, emergency dental health, travel expenses associated with moving & to look for more work - $300
Vehicle, registration & first month insurance, anything else associated with costs - $4500
More Context:
For the last year I have largely been falling back on doing $w & $tripping again to survive... after a year of this being my main means by and large of earning income, I am exhausted & burnout in doing this type of work by and large to survive & have been finding that the precarious and largely unpredictable nature of the outcome of doing this type of work for so long that has made, has ultimately left me feeling drained and isolated and the results have actually still made impossible for me to move forward and break this cycle. I, like I know many others & of us, have been applying for jobs (& still am) consistently without being able to make much progress. I can't applying for more credit cards because of how bad my credit already is and how much debt I have. I have tried signing up for temp agencies and things - such as instacart, instawork door dash, etc. but have been met with error messages, or being told that they are not accepting new applications, or just not being able to find work at all in my area. I am still determined to find work however...In late November, after a month of living back in Oakland (& being back in the bay for the first time really since I was a kid) I was lucky enough to finally secure a different line of work at a photo & video store, before unfairly abruptly being fired in December, the week of Christmas, because of the store manager said 'it just wasn't working out'. After a failed attempt at trying to make my rent doing $w that same week in LA, I unfortunately lost my housing before returning to FL to try to reconnect and support my mother going through health challenges. My family is not in a position to support me in this time and if anything is seeking support from me to weather their storms as well. While in FL too, I had lost my back up housing option I had already started making payments for in LA, due to being unable to make enough, and stayed longer to support family, try to get a sense of grounding, keep hustling, see friends & try (&unsuccessfully) to sell some of my belongings. Since mid March I have been back in CA, spending sometime with a friend in Oakland, and now staying temporarily with a friend in LA.
I am hoping to raise enough (closer to 1/4 of it) to seriously get on my feet by the end of this month, April 30th - & to secure housing/ a room of my own, pay for my storage unit that is at risk currently for being put up for auction at the end of the month, ultimately moved towards having a vehicle to be able to take on different work, and to move between places, support others who are transiting, as well as survive till I am able to have a steady job/stream of readable income back in my life. If I am able to secure steady work before this is request is complete then I will close down the fund.
At this moment, this asks feels like a lot for me, especially given the increasingly difficult state of where it feels so many of us are at, and has been partly why I have waited so long to even ask for support...so truly anything that is given, even if its a dollar I am ultimately very very grateful for and want to say thank you, truly.. I’ve avoided doing this ask multiple times since this last year and have tried to just keep my head down, figure it out consistently but I am ultimately at a place of knowing I need to ask for help… I am asking for this amount as a dream & wish in hopes to be able to truly secure housing & reliable transportation.
PAY LINKS —
CASHAPP: $liquidmoons
**see flyer
Other ways to support me --
*Sharing this <3
*let me know if you hear of any housing opportunities in preferably nyc (Brooklyn/Harlem) for May- August to make this program, but open to also knowing of anything in Miami, LA, Oakland too.
*Book me for a Queer & Trans $trip night (I’ve been doing this on & off since 2016 and would love to expand to finally doing it for the theys, gays, etc.)
*BOOK A NADA EAR ACUPUNTURE SESSION w/ me — Currently Doing NADA Ear Acupuncture sliding scale sessions in Los Angeles, CA for rest of April-
More Information & Availability & Booking Info
*Looking for Remote Job Opportunities doing research work for films/projects, communications work - for nonprofit type of gigs, translation work for films- French & English, sound design/ video editing.
*Let me know about gigs in landscaping, art handling/ art production assistant, event set up/take down, bar backing, door, night life.
*Hoping to do more DJ gigs again once I stabilize.
My other links
Music links-
Art Website -
Throughout this all I am eternally grateful to the kind of love and solidarity I have been shown by people in my immediate, wherever I've landed & I just say thank you all truly so much for those who opened up their home to me even if it was just for a night. I haven't been able to get through this time alone & am so grateful to also have been reminded how there is yet again actually much more love in this world than hate...
Thank you caring & for believing in me,
a
Organizer
Alex Moon
Organizer
Emeryville, CA