Help Staying Housed (Fundraising for Rent)

Some of you coming here likely already know me. Most may not. For the latter: I'm Michael Matheson, a Trans writer and editor based out of Toronto, Canada, who works mostly freelance gigs (and has for the last couple decades). I work primarily in publishing, sometimes marketing, and have worked in a lot of other industries over the years -- some cool, some less so. And I've been looking for full time work for the last year or so with some close brushes, but as yet no luck.

So why run a fundraiser? Because as publishing (where I still find most of my current work) continues to be inconsistent in payment speed and scheduling, housing precarity has become a real problem for me this year. I've been behind on rent or had to pay it in stages several times already (and the year's not quite half done), resulting in some discussions with my landlords about how that needs to not happen again, please, or something will have to give. Which, entirely fair.

But. Desiring to have more stability to ward off further housing issues does not change that I am at the mercy of corporate and private clients' payment capabilities and processes. Nor that I've had over the last year and change problems with client non-payment and related snafus that I'll not go into again here -- I've talked about them in various places online enough at this point -- that have in no small part contributed to the current situation.

So, as was suggested to me by colleagues and friends, I'm trying to build a "cushion" of two months' rent to lessen the ongoing unstable housing issue while trying to smooth things out going forward and hopefully, finally find a more permanent position to aid that.

Why is two months' rent $3,000 here? Because the Toronto housing market is brutal, and shows no sign of getting better any time soon. And this is honestly not nearly as high as it gets round this way. Why not just leave then, you ask? Because this is home, and what precious few ties I have to other people in meatspace are here. And even if I wanted to move, I couldn't afford to do so.

So, if you're in a position to help out a struggling Trans woman during Pride Month through a fundraiser like this, that would be very welcome. Hiring me for a gig is also very welcome, as is passing along info about permanent positions -- it all helps.

A couple quick Notes:

- Yes, I'm using my deadname for this. It's just easiest at the moment, since it's the one I use for pretty much everything online anyway.

- There's no photo of me above as there has been in past because I only really have pre-transition pictures, and I'm not doing that to myself yet again. Thus, the header image here is an absolutely lovely photo by Sebastian Unrau on Unsplash.

- I need quite badly to revise my freelancing website, but for anyone interested in reaching out for some freelance work, I'm at: https://mathesonfreelancing.com/.

Cheers all, and thanks immensely for whatever aid you're up for! Even if it's only sharing this fundraiser round.