Save Evan & Tennyson's Belongings

Tennyson Ewing Stead and Evan Ipiluni have been living in their Mini Cooper since August 2018, with Evan's service dog, Luna. They obtained a storage unit for the possessions they could not keep in the car with them. They are behind on payments, and therefore do not have access to anything in the unit. If they do not catch up on their payments in the next ten days, they will lose everything inside the unit, including:



- Evan's birth certificate.


- Evan's divorce certificate (which is needed for Tennyson and Evan to be able to get married in September)


- Evan's collection of first edition Neil Gaiman books, many of which are autographed, made out to Evan from Neil himself.


- A scrimshaw calendar from the 1700s that was made by one of Tennyson's ancestors


- A quilt made by Evan's grandmother



I drove to the storage unit with them today, hoping that we could take the most important of the items in there and store them in my apartment for the time being, but we weren't allowed in because of how far behind they are on payments. My heart broke.



These are things that they cannot bear to lose.



We have ten days to help them.




Evan is on the autism spectrum. She does audience work whenever possible to earn money, but it doesn't pay well. She sells t-shirts online with positive messages about autism. She is a trained masseuse, but doesn't have her license in California, and doesn't have the $180 it would take to get it. She also has experience as a figure skating instructor (and her Bachelor's Degree in Dance makes her qualified to choreograph routines), but she had to sell her custom figure skates to make ends meet. She is actively looking for work, but many work environments are difficult for her to acclimate to due to her specific needs.



Tennyson survived a traumatic brain injury, and after a lot of hard work, has regained the ability to walk without a cane. He is a screenwriter, with a background in film finance, but has largely been unemployed since his injury. He has been taking on proofreading jobs online. He took a screenwriting job in December, but the person who commissioned him still has not paid the money that Tennyson is owed (which was devastating to both Tennyson and Evan, who were counting on that money to survive).



They are kind, loving, intelligent people. They want to work for their success. But right now, they need help.



I found out that they were homeless about three weeks ago, and my roommate was out of town, so they stayed with me for three weeks, but have since returned to their Mini Cooper. They were incredibly lovely, thoughtful house guests, who never asked for anything.



I suggested that they contact The Actors Fund for assistance, and Tennyson emailed them. The Actors Fund emailed back, saying that he should call them... but he doesn't currently have phone service. He told me this story standing next to me, and I offered him my phone. It hadn't occurred to him to ask for help.

They cannot file for bankruptcy, because doing so would cause Tennyson to lose the rights to his screenplays. 

Evan could qualify for state benefits with her autism, but would first have to get reassessed and diagnosed in the state of California, and they cannot afford that.



They would never set up a GoFundMe for themselves. I'm doing it for them, because the thought of them losing these precious items is painful.



Please. If you can donate even $1, it would be progress.



All donations will go directly to Tennyson and Evan, to try to help them preserve their belongings.