Zack Grozny’s Laptop Replacement Fund

So the other day I dropped my laptop and gravity kindly rearranged its guts. I can't afford a new one. Oops.

Let me back up a bit and give you some background: my name is Zack and I'm a disabled, transgender, Russian immigrant living in Germany. Severe chronic pain and fatigue render me housebound and a serious mental illness (schizoaffective disorder) makes day-to-day functioning a constant struggle. I can't work a conventional job or study. Right now, I'm teaching myself digital art as best as I can. I dream of becoming a comic artist and also of being able to support myself via freelancing.

Except now my laptop is on its last legs (as of the time of typing this, I can no longer connect the charger, the keyboard randomly becomes unresponsive and the fan and HDD are making alarming noises -- oh and programs keep freezing and crashing, which has never happened before) and I'm, frankly, screwed.

A functioning laptop is my major link to the outside world; I have no offline friends in this city. I cannot keep in touch with my support system without a laptop -- I can't use a phone or tablet to use social media, because of the pain typing on a tablet causes -- and I sure as heck can't keep studying digital art without one. But I can't afford to replace the laptop; I'm a visual artist, I would need a laptop robust enough to run art software well and those are expensive.

There's no way in hell I can come up with the money to buy a laptop comparable in spec to my current, dying machine. I have no income -- because I'm not a German citizen, I receive no disability payments. I'm estranged from my parents (they take issue with me being transgender and gay) and despite my dad's high salary, they insist they "can't afford" to help me financially. My boyfriend can't afford a laptop as high-spec as I need.

And, since it's the damned laptop that's broken, I can't even offer commissions until it's replaced.

So I'm turning to the Internet for help. The Internet has come through for people like me in the past and I hope it can do so again.

Please, help me get a new laptop. Without one, I would be completely isolated socially and unable to pursue my dreams of being a comic artist, both of which would exacerbate my mental illness and put me in danger of being institutionalised again. I really don't want that to happen. I really don't want to lose touch with my friends or have to stop working on my art and my comic.

There is one bright spot in all of this: today I discovered that Apple offer a payment plan for all products they sell through the online Apple Store; I can buy a MacBook and pay it off over 24 months with 0% interest. But right now, I can't even afford the initial payments.

True, I don't need a Mac to be a digital artist. I could get a PC of comparable spec for half the price. However, I've been unable to find payment plans comparable to the Apple one and I don't want to take out a loan with interest.

I'm reasonably certain I'll be able to start offering regular commissions in five or six months -- so I'm not asking for the full price of the MacBook I have my eye on, only a portion, so I can have a replacement laptop promptly. The campaign is set as "ongoing" so people can help me offset the cost of replacing my laptop further down the line.

Thank you for reading! If you can't donate, please spread the word.

ABOUT THE REWARDS

They'll take a little bit, for a reason that's probably obvious. Here's a few samples of my art: [X] [X] [X]