#laid off

Back in February I made a post asking for financial help regarding me needing to move out on a tight schedule. I appreciate everyone donated then, and you all made a huge difference. I was very close to getting an apartment when I got laid off at the end of June.

Now I am looking at a situation where I could be homeless. I could also end up finding a temporary place, but it would only be short term, and I am still working towards finding a place to live. Due to being laid off my finances have been strained.

I managed to get a job with retail, but it's going to be a while before I start. I've continued with selling off more of my magic cards, clothes, jewelry and collectibles. Tomorrow I hope to sell more. If you're interested in that, please reach out. Or, if you want, I can write you something.

Otherwise: If anyone can donate... any help, I'd appreciate it. If you can't, a reblog would be appreciated, too.

P@yp@l link

Hi everyone!

I am writing this on behalf of my close friend, a trans woman living in Italy whom I have known for over 10 years.

She has always worked tirelessly to remain independent—taking on low-paying gig work and piecemeal jobs without any family support system. Unfortunately, trans women face immense discrimination in the Italian job market. After months of precarious employment that drained her savings, her latest job as a waitress was abruptly cut short after just an 8-day trial.

She is now facing an urgent crisis with no safety net left.

I am managing the campaign page, but GoFundMe deposits all funds directly into Luna's bank account.

Proof & Receipts: To ensure 100% transparency, we will post receipts for all paid bills (groceries, car insurance, condo fees) directly in the Updates section of the GoFundMe page (with personal address details blurred out).

Identity Verification: I am fully available via DM to provide proof or answer any legitimate questions to verify this story.

What the funds are for:

Condominium fees, to avoid legal action and layoffs: €400

Car insurance: €600

Food expenses: €200 per month for the next two months.

If anyone knows of or operates a business in/near Viareggio / Versilia (Tuscany, Italy) in hospitality or food service, or remote work, Luna is an experienced, honest worker eager to get back to work immediately.

GoFundMe Link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/aiutiamo-l-a-non-perdere-tutto

Post written by my partner:

I never imagined I’d have to write something like this, I’m embarrassed and scared to be asking strangers for help, but I’m at the point where I don’t know what else to do.

I lost my job, and things have spiraled far faster than I could’ve prepared for. My partner and I are now facing the very likely possibility of losing our housing and car, and not being able to afford basic necessities, including food and life-saving medication.

I want to make it VERY clear: I am not sitting around waiting for someone to rescue us. I am working. I am trying. As much as I possibly can, and I’ve been trying everything.

Since losing my job I’ve been doing Uber, Lyft, and Doordash, staying out until 2 AM every single night, trying to make any money I possibly can; I’m doing everything I can to keep us afloat, but the income has just… not been enough. Tips have been really really bad lately, almost nonexistent sometimes, and the money I’m bringing in isn’t enough to cover our necessary expenses.

I am actively applying for regular employment, everyday. I’ve applied to hundreds of jobs.

I’m not just asking for a handout. I want to work.

If anyone reading this is hiring remote workers or hiring in Arizona, I would genuinely really appreciate hearing about any opportunities or options I might have. I want nothing more than to become financially stable again and support myself and my partner (they’re disabled, they’re trying their best to help too). I am disabled and in a wheelchair, which unfortunately limits some of the jobs I can realistically try to pursue. I’ve also experienced a frustrating pattern of submitting applications and receiving an immediate (within a second) or very quick rejection, often seemingly before there could’ve even been much if any consideration of my application. Many of the jobs I’ve applied to here, also turned out to be MLMs that lied on the listing, and wasted my time.

I am not expecting someone to simply give me money and make my problems disappear. I am willing to earn my way out of this situation. If you know of a remote position, an Arizona employer, freelance work, contract work, or any other legitimate opportunity that could accommodate my circumstances, please, please reach out. I am willing to work. I just need a chance.

I’m also an experienced programmer and software developer, I know how to work on servers, other advanced programming, etc. I’m open to any other opportunities that can accommodate my circumstances too, but these are the skills I have. I’ve applied to many of these jobs too with zero luck.

I had hoped my family would be willing to help us get through this emergency, especially because they have the financial means to do so (Well beyond, even; They own a business, a multiple story house with an elevator, built into a mountain). Instead, they’ve made it painfully clear they had set aside a fixed amount of money and refuse to contribute anything at all beyond that, even knowing how seriously dire our situation has become.

I’m angry with them, I don’t want to have to pretend I’m not, and beg them for money they clearly refuse to give, when they’re unsafe and abusive. They were so in the past, and sadly that pattern of behavior has continued. What makes this situation so painful is they have the ability to help prevent what is happening to us, but are choosing not to.

Recently, I even tried to make them understand how serious things have become. I told them my partner and I are staying in a homeless shelter, partially because I needed them to understand what we are now facing, and partially because I wanted to see whether hearing that would make them finally realize how desperate things had become.

Their response was saying they didn’t think we’d do something “so drastic” as move into a shelter. Saying they didn’t want us to do that, upset that we did something they clearly don’t like. As if we have a choice.

That response was devastating. We’re not talking about some hypothetical worst case scenario anymore! Homelessness is a very real and immediate possibility for us both, and we’re trying anything we can to prevent it before we have no other choice. Being homeless would kill both of us immediately due to disabilities.

Right now, we have bills due within a couple days, that we don’t have the money to cover (even with Lyft, Uber, and Doordash every day and night).

Our electricity bill is approximately $209.47, and our car payment is $672.54. Both are due on the 11th, only about a couple days away. Rent is $1355.11, due again on the 1st. Groceries, for both of us, are about $500 every month. We only go to the grocery store once a month, and we do our best to keep it minimal, and buy bulk where possible so that it lasts.

These aren’t expenses I can delay or put off. The car is especially so important because it's our only transportation and also the means by which I’m currency earning money through uber and Lyft. Losing it would make this situation go from incredibly difficult to impossible to survive. We really can’t afford losing the car if we want to make it through this at all.

We also need help with the following:

Rent/Housing

Food/Groceries

Electricity

Car payment

Other essential bills and basic necessities

Necessary life-saving medications, about $300 every 3 months (not covered by medicaid insurance)

We have medication that’s about $300 every 3 months, and it’s not something we can just stop paying. It’s life-saving, and my partner will die without it, even for a day or so.

I’m not asking anyone to solve our entire situation. Even a few dollars would help us get through this period while I continue working and trying desperately to get more stable employment. If you’re able to contribute, the money would go towards keeping us housed, electricity on, not losing the car, basic food, and life-saving medication.

We also have a 3D printer we got free from a friend, so if you want to donate financially with a bit extra for filament/shipping, we can print you anything reasonable.

Anything is much much appreciated. Thank you.

If you would like to help financially:

PayPal: [email protected]

PayPal: AsterismeFenrir

CashApp: $zontreck

Bitcoin: bc1pjqafak00sckk754awhke50vumval0mphnedc6ktpg33yu9ktjheqpcchm2

(Included for those who would like to donate, but prefer to remain anonymous.)

(GoFundMe for supporting us, incl. especially if you want us to keep making the System Switchboard app)

(GoFundMe for medication)

If you can’t donate, please consider sharing this as much as you’re able, or telling me about legitimate resources, employment opportunities, or organizations that might be able to help.

I know there are countless people asking for help online, and I know strangers have no reason to trust me, but I am willing to provide whatever reasonable verification I can to establish that our situation is real.

I’m incredibly terrified. So is my partner. I don’t want them to end up without a place to live, without enough money to eat, or without meds that keep them from dying, or for them to go back to living with abusers who will definitely kill them. But I am trying as hard as I can to fight my way out of this. I want to work. I want to be independent. I’m already staying out working until 2 AM almost every single night just trying to make this work, by some miracle. I just need some help enough to get us through the gap between where we are now, and being able to support ourselves again. Please.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, even if you can’t contribute anything financially. Thank you for hearing us out.

The actual, simple answer: Because I am UNEMPLOYED and would like to make MONEY so I can EXIST.

I worked for a company for over a year and I'll be the first to tell you I was a terrible fit for the company culture. I was hoping to get my state license before quitting, to improve my job prospects and pay rate, and to have an excuse for quitting besides "it sucked there," but the company did me the favor of laying me off before I had my chance to quit. I'm claiming unemployment benefits and applying to jobs. I've been putting HR's corporate number on my applications because I know HR is going to be a lot more professional than anyone I worked with, but a prospective employer has told me their third party background check company had the misfortune of speaking to someone at the local branch where I had been working. I'm guessing the person performing the background check just Googled the company name and the city I worked in, instead of relying on me to provide accurate information on the application.

One of the managers, several rungs up the ladder from my former position, has told them and potentially others that I was Fired for Cause. Specifically, for misconduct at work. I'm able to dispute this with the background check company due to FCRA, especially considering I have documentation from the company stating I was Laid Off and not Fired, which I'm doing because I really want that new job. I'm looking for a lawyer who can tell them to cut it out before they get sued for defamation (eg. send a legal document called a Demand Letter on law office letterhead), but in the meantime I still need to apply for jobs.

How can I get around this guy badmouthing me if people call there to verify my former employment? Do I mention it in the cover letter, or what?

Holy shit this is FUCKING UNETHICAL. What the hell is that guy thinking???

Immediately call the company, and specifically the guy who has erroneously said you were fired for cause, and tell him to knock it off. Say something like, "It's come to my attention that when asked for a reference, you've been telling potential employers I was fired for cause. I want to remind you that in my severance paperwork, it states I was laid off, not fired, and there is absolutely no documentation of misconduct. I'm asking you to stop misrepresenting my situation when asked for a reference. If you can't, I'll be forced to get my lawyer involved."

You need to act quickly, and if you can get this done without a lawyer, even better.

A lot has happened this week. On Tuesday, April 1st, several hundred people woke up to an email letting us know we’d lost our jobs working for the federal government. I never believed the claims from the administration that it would only be “waste” that would’ve been eliminated, but after the promises that scientists would be safe I didn’t expect to immediately lose my job on a random Tuesday at 5:10 AM. Since that moment, I have cycled through anger and sadness and grief, knowing that what we worked so hard to achieve is gone forever.

I am a West Virginia girl, through and through. I grew up here. I attended West Virginia University for undergrad and my PhD. When I finished my PhD in Immunology and Microbiology in 2021, I immediately started working at CDC NIOSH in Morgantown, as an Associate Service Fellow. NIOSH was founded to understand diseases that were being seen in coal miners, and as a West Virginian the importance of protecting worker safety is something that you understand really young and really personally. I was beyond thrilled to find an opportunity to use my doctoral education in my home state, conducting research that directly benefits American workers and helps our people live safer, healthier lives. I have been with NIOSH since 2021, working in the building every day as a scientist, studying how exposure to particles and microbes interacts with immune systems.

The type of research that we were doing is not being done anywhere else in the world. And now it’s not being done at all.

We were permitted to come in and gather our belongings, but our building is left vacant, and for what? We have backlogs of samples we were unable to process because of purchasing freezes since January. My data, which is really data that belongs to the American people, is sitting in files that I can only assume will be deleted at the earliest convenience of the administration. We are grieving the senseless loss of our laboratory animals, euthanized because we can’t finish studies. Their lives ended without cause, exacting further torment on the scientists that value animal life so deeply, a core principle held in all animal research. The cruelty and waste in the administration’s plan to “reduce redundancy and government waste” is disgusting and offensive.

What scares me now is not my own job security or what’s next for my career. It’s not what happens next for me as an individual, or even the impact on the larger scientific community, but the ripple that will impact every single American and American worker. Without NIOSH to study the effects of occupational safety and health risks or to study the health hazards that appear and grow and evolve every day, who is going to do that? Who is going to care about the American worker in a way that’s not biased by a company’s bottom line? Who is going to certify respirators and masks? We don’t know. And maybe the answer is no one. That is what scares me most.

[Catherine Blackwood]

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This is so many kinds of devastating and a microcosm of what the 47 crew are doing.