Urgent Support Needed: Help L Relocate in NYC

L Gulley is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Hi everyone! My name is L, and I am a Black queer vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, entertainer, spoken/sung word poet, and storyteller currently based in New York, New York. This Spring, I graduated from the Oberlin College and Conservatory, earning a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Voice with an Africana Studies Minor. I moved to NYC on June 23rd, 2023, with no job and a few hundred dollars in pocket change. This move was haphazard and all of a sudden, but it could not be averted.

Initially, my post-graduation plan was to move here in the Fall with a secured music teaching position at a local elementary or secondary education school. As my mom will tell you, staying in practice as a passionate teaching artist and building a foundation for myself as an independent adult has been my dream since I was a kid. I am working hard to make this plan happen and applied for many different positions in the city's public, charter, and independent school systems.

While setting myself up for life after Oberlin and moving back to my hometown Detroit, Michigan, for the summer, my overall health and well-being began to enter a very declining and questionable state. Noting my condition and the environmental dissonance I was experiencing, I made the decision to change my environment to a more nurturing and positively challenging one. I am moving purely by faith, intuition, and honor of the body's communication system while "doing it scared," as the old adage says. I arrived in New York three days later, hitching a ride with a friend headed east for vacation. I had a few callbacks and interviews but no employment and only a week's worth of places to lay my head.

I was updating a friend who happened to be visiting New York during one of my last days in Detroit, and their host overheard the conversation and offered a place on their couch for a maximum of three weeks, giving me a place to stay while I figure things out and get back on my feet. During the past weeks here in the city, I have been handing out resumes, submitting applications, interviewing for various jobs, and searching for odd jobs. Prospects look promising but are moving slowly. While the need for relocation is quickly approaching. With two weeks until I have to be out, I am already behind on the funds I need to secure housing and move safely. The imminent housing change and very little time and resources prompted my friends to suggest I reach out and ask the community for assistance.

Donations will be used towards securing housing (including security deposit, rent, and utilities) and extra funds for groceries and transportation as I work to situate and provide for myself here in the city. No amount is too small, and all contributions are appreciated as we try to reach this time-sensitive goal. All contributions will receive a thank you note, and those over $50 will receive a personalized piece of art (written/performed) once I am situated and can engage in practice again. For those in NYC, I’d also appreciate housing and employment leads.

Thank you for your time and consideration, and I hope to have the opportunity of connecting with you soon.

Portfolio selections :

Senior Recital Live at the Birenbaum in Oberlin