URGENT - Help Chelsea Stay Housed During Finals

Hi there! My name is Chelsea and I’m a rising 2L at CUNY School of Law, where I hope to graduate with my J.D. in 2027 to work as a public defender. My dream is to facilitate a community center that contains a law firm for pro bono legal service/advice, housing programming, and job placement & education support services because from my own experiences (and learning the experiences of others), I know that a lot of challenges such as housing insecurity, criminal prosecution from an inherently racist policing system, and lack of financial/community support all go hand in hand to negate the high potential of many talented, brilliant people. The irony of this ambition is that I find myself facing housing insecurity again as an adult; experiencing this throughout my childhood put this community lawyer dream in my heart, but facing housing insecurity now threatens to rip the dream from my chest.

I had temporarily stayed in a facility last semester until I found a temporary college housing program to reside in. However, I have unexpectedly been made to leave in mid-May due to high demand, and despite my efforts to secure reliable income on my own to stay here for the remainder of the semester, I have been unsuccessful and now face possibly having to leave even sooner because I do not have my April rent, nor May’s.

If you are able to contribute, I would greatly appreciate the donation toward April’s and May’s rents to ensure I have a place to stay throughout finals and hopefully cover move-in costs for a more affordable program/place by the unanticipated deadline. This experience has been challenging, but I appreciate the support, understanding, and compassion that not only can help me secure housing to stay in school, but that will stay with me to pass into my future clients. I appreciate all of your support and, as I’ve learned myself, this is so much more than just me; it’s building each other up against a system that’s built against us, it’s us refusing to have our dreams stolen, it’s us not allowing our potentials to be diminished because of a system that thrives on our struggle to survive.