Rebooting my fundraiser to reflect present situation:
We were expecting a check to come in the mail today that would let us afford our rent and life expenses but it hasn’t come in, putting a lot of stress on us. We need emergency support because rent is due tomorrow, July 4th.
My name is Phoenix and I'm a white, Jewish and Panamanian Latina trans woman and union steward and organizer. I'm married to Olivia, the daughter of Salvadoran refugees, a U.S. naturalized citizen, a union steward, anti-imperialist feminist and writer. We're asking for help today.
I’ve been struggling to even find low wage entry level restaurant jobs and I have been out of work since mid-March after I got fired at my unionized job for allegedly leaving notes with "migrants welcome" and Jewish and Muslim religious symbols outside the living space of an open white nationalist. The fact that this person is a white nationalist is not being denied by my employer, who is claiming I created a safety risk and violated their equity principles by doing this. Meanwhile in the real world Nazis have repeatedly stalked me and my parents and spent years harassing our neighborhood with public rallies. I went through a union grievance process with that employer to return to that job and/or receive backpay and it is being considered for arbitration. The union will be conferring with their lawyer and at the next executive board meeting in August it will be decided upon and I have the impression my case has significant support.
Because I've been out of work, there's been additional financial stress on our household. We also were contacted to foster a new family member who was taken into the care of the state. She has been staying with us for the past few weeks and has rapidly grown in a short period of time.
I recently applied to multiple trade apprenticeship programs including for aspiring tradeswomen and to community college to pursue a degree in a trade. Funding for the trade programs will soon distribute and I’ll have a better idea of available opportunities for work and when. An Employment Access Specialist referred me to the Step Program which as a future SNAP recipient would pay for me to receive trade certificates from my local community college.
The baby receives WIC and as soon as I receive confirmation from child services of future support payments (we have yet to actually receive these in a full amount due to recentness of placement), her SNAP should also be approved. But until then we have relied on parent friends and buy nothing groups to keep us afloat on baby supplies.
Please, if you can share this post, a multiracial queer couple and new foster parents dedicated to serving their community through direct service, union + tenant organizing and socialist political struggle will be able to maintain their housing as we transition into a new and exciting phase of our lives during what has been very financially uncertain and scary times.
Rent is due by tomorrow, July 4th, 2026. It is $900. We are awaiting a check that would cover these costs but it hasn’t arrived in the mail in time.
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Venmo: writeswrongs / @Phoenix-Singer-1
CashApp: $writeswrongs / $PhoenixSinger
