Help me build a safer life

Hello there!

My name is Terry and I am a bipolar transgender guy from Poland. I spent the better part of my twenties and late teens torn between mood swing episodes that made it impossible for me to study despite multiple attempts - when I was finally stable enough to actually try again to earn a degree, the money had run out and I had to find a job.

By an impossible strike of luck I managed to get a job that gave me enough stability to finally get functional again, but unfortunately, I had to recently quit it - after over 3 years its impact on my mental health changed and it got so bad that I started honestly fearing that I might relapse into a psychotic breakdown. Or that, due to my dimnished work performance, I would get fired anyway, landing in a much more precarious position than if I left on my own while I was still ahead.

The political situation in my country in the recent years has been very hard on my mental health as a queer person as well (you can read a bit more about what's happening here: https://lgbtqpl.carrd.co/ and here: https://lgbtqiappoland.carrd.co/#educate or here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_2020_LGBT_protests_in_Poland). As I am very visibly queer - my HRT is not working as well as I wished to and as a result my gender presentation is androgynous in a very othering way. I fear for my safety, which makes my anxiety pretty bad. Even before the pandemic I rarely left my safe bubble as that always meant facing at best multiple microaggressions, and at worst very real physical violence. This is not a way to live. As you might imagine, I have been looking for a way out of the country for some time now.

Thankfully, just as I made a tough decision to quit my old job, I landed a new, pretty good job in Vienna that will allow me to leave this overwhelming hatred behind. It's a big opportunity for me, especially since people are not exactly lining up to offer a job to a very queer guy with a pretty short resume. I am very excited to finally move from Poland with my dog and start a new life somewhere where my gender identity and sexual orientation won't be much of a problem. However, the move is expensive and my savings have been drained by the transition, the costs of my mental health care, and supporting my mother who has been unemployed for years and suffers from depression and has problems with her spine as well as my 75 years old aunt who recently started showing symptoms of Alzheimer that unfortunately runs in my family.

The downside is that the company doesn't provide any relocation funds and if I don't manage to fund the move in time I will be out of the job after three months - which would render my situation much worse than it was before.

My extended family didn't take my transition too well so I can seek no help there, and years of pulling my mother out of debt (mostly unpaid bills that I have been inevitably learning about way too late) have ruined my credit score, so I can't count on a loan. That doesn't leave me with many options, which is why I am asking for your help.

If it was a different time I would probably manage to find some workarounds that would help reduce the costs or at least spread them in time, but with the pandemic and a shelter rescue dog with anxiety problems, I need to make this process as quick and smooth as possible. Both the pandemic and the need to accommodate my dog's needs make the whole thing more costly, removing some options that would be viable in different circumstances.

I have estimated the costs of the move at around 5500 euro, with most of that being apartment deposit (on average 2000 euro), first rent (I am aiming for the price range of 400-500 euro), temporary dog-friendly accommodations for the first weeks (probably around 700-900 euro), a month or two of my rent in Poland (around 350 euro/month - my lease expires on 1st July and I can't terminate it earlier). Other costs include moving company (around 400 euro), getting essential furniture that I don't have in Poland (I hope to keep it in around 400 euro range), dog sitter to help my pupper through the most chaotic period and some smaller costs, like a translation of my medical documentation, pet passport, covid tests, travel costs and so on. I can realistically save up to 1500 euro while working from Poland, but the rest of that amount is out of my reach.

I have struggled with the decision to start this fundraiser, but if I don't ask for help now, later I will have to ask again in much more dire circumstances. But with your help, I can be up on my feet very soon to start paying forward.

If by any chance the amount collected here exceeds my relocation needs I will donate everything that goes over my actual costs to one of the LGBT+ organizations working in Poland for a better future - most likely the Trans-Fuzja foundation, being the only NGO in Poland dedicated to supporting the trans community.

http://transfuzja.org/en/artykuly.htm

(Campaign image: Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, image courtesy of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)